The Invisible
by Raindrop Lullaby
Summary: Inspired by the movie, "The Invisible". Post-GBGL. Sara is done dealing with her ghosts and is ready to return to Vegas, but someone gets in her way. If she ever wants to return, she'll need help, and fast... before her time runs out. GSR of course.
1. Chapter 1

THE INVISIBLE:

Chapter 1:

_Cereal, waffles, bagels, ah, here we are, bread_. She thinks to herself as she spots the loaf of bread she was looking for and sets if from the shelf and into her shopping cart. She then checks 'bread' off of her shopping list that she had been carrying with her. That's what she did every week since she arrived in San Francisco. Every Sunday she'd help out her mom and go out shopping for her. After all, that's who Sara had been staying with for the past five months. Sara proceeded to the checkout as she paid for her items, walked out through the automatic doors of the mini-mart, and walked to her car to begin the short drive to what she had been calling home for five months now. But that night, she would say her final goodbye to San Francisco and return to her real home, back in Las Vegas. Sara was finally ready to leave. When she arrived in San Fran back in November she had no place to go except to Laura Sidle's house. A woman she had hated for years. A woman she had avoided for even longer. But this woman was her mother, and she couldn't be avoided forever. When Sara showed up, they didn't reach the subject of her father's death for almost two weeks afterwards. Which followed with an even longer period of silence between the two until they were actually able to 'talk' to each other. Visiting her father's grave was the next step; and one of the hardest to do. She had gone on a chilly January day. It reminded her of the day she had been there last; back when she was a scared little girl. She wasn't a little girl anymore; yet she was still scared. Visiting her father's grave finally helped her to realize that what was done, was done. The past; it's done; it's unchangeable. Move on. That's what she had to say to herself for three days after the visit to the cemetery. Three days and she could finally forgive her mother. It had taken her a total of one month, two weeks, and three days after her arrival, until she could do it. While crying for the first time since she left Las Vegas, the team, and most importantly, Gil Grissom.

Sara had never felt guiltier in her life than the day she had left him with nothing but a letter and a broken heart. But sadly, she had to do it that way. If she would have talked to him about it, Grissom would have tried to talk her out of it; and she wouldn't have been able to handle that. She could feel herself slowly slipping away, and before she let anyone see her fall, she needed to catch herself. And as far as she was currently concerned, she had done that, and now it was time for her to go back to her real home. She missed everything. She missed Grissom, and Catherine, and Nick, and Warrick, and Greg, and even the blistering hot Las Vegas days!

Sara turned left onto her old street where she had spent the first twelve years of her life. They were filled with memories; most of them unpleasant. And through all of the people that had came and gone in Sara Sidle's life, there was always that person or two that she could never catch a break from. Jason Hughes was one of those people. He and Sara had been neighbors while she was growing up and she could probably give you a book full of words to describe him, but decided to keep it simple. He was a bully; in every sense of the word. Jason Hughes gave her physical and emotional abuse throughout her childhood and contributed to her suffering as a young girl. When she was eight and he was twelve, he knocked her down and slammed her head into the concrete; his reason to his own mother being, "The little b!tch looked at me funny!" On her tenth birthday, Jason payed a visit to Sara's father, telling him that he caught Sara stealing from the local candy store. That night ended in a broken arm and a trip to the hospital. At her father's funeral, twelve year old Sara was reminded by sixteen year old Jason, that it was her fault that she was all alone now; no one had loved her and no one ever would. But he was wrong, and Sara had proved him wrong, twenty-three years later. She had her own family that loved her, flaws and all. Though it took her a while to realize that. Sara finally pulled into her mother's driveway., and as if on cue, a window next door shatters, with none other than Jason Hughes's voice echoing through.

He still lived there, and behaved no different than he was younger. But this time, instead of Sara receiving the abuse, it was the man's new girlfriend. Twenty-eight year old Emma Wilson, a fragile, beautiful girl, who now fell victim to this terrible man's anger. Sara had tried numerous times throughout her stay to convince the girl to leave him; but fear overpowered her need for her own safety and she was trapped. Abandoning the groceries in the safety of her car, Sara approached Jason's house. She would reach out to this woman one last time before she leaves, whispering to herself what her mother used to tell her when she was younger,

"_Keep your head high honey; cause there are people who would _**_kill _**_to see you fall."_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Chapter 2:

Carefully stepping over the pieces of broken glass as she crosses in front of the recently broken window, Sara approaches the door to Jason Hughes's house, and rapidly knocks on the door. Not two seconds later, a tall, dark-haired man opened the door. Sporting a sly smile with piercing green eyes, he would be considered a good-looking, clean-cut man out in the public eye. But a good look behind closed doors would show the flip-side of this terrible thirty-nine year old.

"Hello, Sara," he began; you could smell the alcohol on his breath, "what can I do for y-"

"Where's Emma?" Sara quickly demanded. He calmly responded by narrowing his eyes at her and taking another swig of his beer.

"I don't think I like your tone." he said as he leaned up against his doorframe, drank a bit more of his beer, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Stop playing games with me Jason. Now, where is Emma?" Sara replied, growing more impatient by the second. Peering behind him, she could see an overturned coffee table, with a broken vase on the floor beside it. Giving Sara a scowl, Jason took a small step back, blocking her view.

"She's busy." he answered while proceeding to close the door. But at the last moment, Sara wedged her foot between the door and it's frame, as her hand slammed onto the door, keeping it open. She was not going to take that as an answer.

"Ok. Jason, listen up. I am going to give you two options, okay? So pick wisely. Door number one; you refuse to let me speak with Emma, I go home, call the cops, and turn you in for any rotten little thing I can get you for. Hear that? Or, door number two; you can let me talk to Emma. So what will it be? Jail time for you? Or talking time for me?" Sara finished with cold eyes and clenched teeth. After a moment, Jason's death grip on the door, softened as he swung it open.

"She's in the dining room." he reluctantly said, "You have five minutes." he told her coldly. Without any further negotiations, Sara quickly found her own way into the dining room. The petite twenty-eight year old was on all fours, picking up pieces of broken glass with her bare hands. As Sara began to slowly approach her, she observed Emma's wrists; they were red and bruised. When Sara reached her, she touched the young woman's shoulder and was startled by the reaction she received.

"I-I'm sorry Jason. It w-was my f-fault. And I d-deserved it." Emma stammered out.

"Emma,"

"Sara," Emma gasped as she turned to look at Sara; eyes wide, as well as red and puffy. She was a very beautiful woman. Shoulder-length blonde hair framed her small face, and deep brown eyes that much resembled Sara's. She was small, too, about 5'2", and thin also.

"Emma. I thought you said you'd leave him if he hit you again?" Sara continued, voice barely above a whisper, to make sure Jason couldn't hear. She crouched down to Emma's level, "You deserve much better than this." She added as she brushed some hair out of Emma's face and pushed it behind her ear. The girl gave her a weak smile, but it quickly faded.

"I'm trying, Sara, I-I really am." Emma responded. She sounded desperate, yet sincere. She really was trying. "But if I leave him, he'll probably kill me." Emma said in a low whisper. This girl was miserable and scared beyond belief. Sara sighed,

"Well hun, I'm here to say goodbye. I'm leaving tonight for Las Vegas, and I might not be back for a long time. But if you ever need anything-- anything at all-- you just call me, okay? I'll be here in a heartbeat." She said, while handing Emma a slip of paper with her cell phone number on it.

"Oh, Sara," Emma said while giving Sara a hug, "thank you for all of your help. And I promise I'll call you when I get out of this hell." She said while holding Sara tighter. Though their goodbye became shortlived when they heard a glass shatter. Startled they both jumped and faced the doorway, where Jason was standing. A broken beer bottle lay on the floor.

"Time's up." He said; his words slurred. "Now get the hell out of my house, Sara," he managed to say through his drunken haze. "and Emma, clean this up." he said gesturing towards the recently smashed bottle.

"Bye, Sara."

"Goodbye, Emma." Sara told her as she offered her a small smile of her own. She then exited through the dining room, began to walk towards the door, stopped and turned to face Jason, who was slowly approaching her. Sara would try one last time to set him straight.

"Listen, you. If I hear that you layed just one more finger on her I will call the cops and get you put away for the rest of your life. Just because you made _my_ life hell, does _not_ give you the right to do that to someone else." her finger pointed accusingly at him. He then began to laugh, a cold, terrible laugh.

"Sara, Sara, Sara. You were just never good enough for me." Jason said, bringing his hand up to her chin and making her look him straight in the eye. Sara then jerked her head to the side, and pushed his hand away from her face.

"Don't touch me," she said quickly. Then proceeding to reach for the doorknob he grabbed her wrist and yanked her back towards him. She tried to pull away but wasn't strong enough, especially in comparison to Jason. He then pulled Sara until she was no more than six inches away from his face.

"You're walking on thin ice, Sidle." he warned her. "Don't push me." Jason then, with Sara's wrist still firmly in his grasp, opened the door and practically threw her onto the porch, slamming the door behind him. Finding her balance, Sara began the short walk back to the car to retrieve her groceries. She wouldn't let her encounter scare her;

_You're almost done,_ she kept telling herself. Though when attempting to pick up the grocery nag, a quick, sharp pain flew up her arm. "Damnit," she cursed under her breath as she dropped the bag just outside her car. "Must be sprained," she said to herself as she examined her red wrist. Taking the bag into her other hand, Sara walked inside of her mother's house and placed it onto the kitchen table. She then stepped up to the sink and looked out of the window that was positioned just above it. The sky was gradually getting darker as a storm was approaching.

" _Flash-flood warnings have been issued for the city and surrounding desert areas..._" The TV in the breakroom was informing a few members of the nightshift about Las Vegas's soon-to-be, horrible weather.

"Well that cancels any plans for tonight." Warrick said, while sitting down on the breakroom's couch.

"Aw man! Does that mean no going to Franks? I haven't eaten anything in almost 24 hoursand I am _not_ about to settle for a TV dinner at home!" Greg said as he leaned back into his chair and propped his feet up onto the table.

"I'm still up for it, Greg. But, if we do go, you're driving." Catherine told him, as she handed him a cup of coffee and took a seat across from him at the table, with a cup of her own.

"Well then, I'm only in if Nick is;" and as Warrick said this, Nick walks eagerly into the room, "speak of the devil..."

"Ok!" Nick said, clasping his hands together in front of him, "food time! Who's driving?"

"Greg." Both Warrick and Catherine say at once.

"Well then, let's get going so we can beat the storm." Nick suggests.

"You guys go ahead and bring the car out front. I'm going to pry Grissom out of his office." Catherine told him as she starts on her was towards his office, suprisingly finiding him in the hallway, closing his door.

"Hey, Grissom!" Catherine says as she approaches him, "me and the guys are heading to Frank's, why don't you join us?" she suggests. Grissom raised an eyebrow and simply told her,

"It's going to rain."

"I know that." her response earned her a second raised eyebrow. "What's your point? Now, come on." Catherine says, just about pushing him through the hallway.

"Okay, okay Cath! I'm coming." he says as he gives in. He wouldn't have won that no matter what. Catherine smiled to herself.

"Alright then. Let's get going."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2:

Sara then proceeded to run some warm water over her swollen wrist in hope of having the notion help in any way possible. She then began to search through the cabinets of the kitchen, looking for a first aid kit. Finding it, she set it on the table, and opened it, hoping to find something to wrap her wrist in.

"Let me guess," a voice behind Sara made her jump. "Jason?" Laura Sidle seemed to already know the answer to her own question. During Sara's stay with her, she had been filled in on just about everything that he had done to Sara all of those years ago. Laura was also aware of the fact that Sara was trying to help out Emma. Trying, but failing miserably.

"Mom, don't start." Sara simply said. She had heard the lecture before and was not about to hear it again.

"I understand what you're doing, but It's a lost cause--"

"I only went to say goodbye to Emma."

"Yet, you returned with a sprained wrist."

"And I told him not to touch her." Sara added. Laura just sighed.

"Let it go." This cause Sara to snap.

"Let it go? Let it go? Oh no, no, no, no. You did _not_ just tell me to let it go. _You_ of all people!" Sara said as she raised her voice and took a step towards her mother. Laura Sidle sighed and remained silent. Laura was of average height, around 5'5", with dark brown hair laced with grey. She and Sara shared the same eyes, and looked very much alike, besides the gap that Sara had between her teeth. They were even both very stubborn; definately, mother and daughter.

"Sara..."

"It has taken me a long time to get over dad's death, and even what he did to us and the pain he caused, as well as all of the other things that have happened to me since then. But, I do not 'let things go', very easily." Sara said, tears in her eyes.

_Damn, no. Not again._ She thought to herself, trying to hold the tears back. "Excuse me." Sara says to her mom as she exits the kitchen and walks up the stairs to her 'room' where she closes the door. Sitting on the bed, Sara couldn't help but laugh at herself. She couldn't count, or let alone remember, how many times she had escaped to this room, years ago, when she tried to get away from her family. She layed down on the bed, face up to the ceiling, staring into space. She didn't even notice when her mother opened the door and sat down on the bed next to her.

"You should probobly get your things together," Laura said to her. She offered Sara a small smile, "You don't want to miss you flight." Sara didn't react. She closed her eyes and began,

"I just don't want the same thing to happen to her. I don't want her to just snap one day and kill him." Sara sighed, "I want her to get out of that he11." She said as she let a tear roll down her face and onto the comforter that lay on top of the bed. Sara sat up and faced her mother.

"Oh honey," Laura said as she pulled Sara close to her, "I'm so sorry. I should have left as soon as I had the chance, I'm sorry." She said as she held her daughter close. Staying still for a few moments, they finally parted. "Come on," Laura said, "I'll drive you to the airport."

A half of an hour later, the two of them were entering the parking lot of the airport. Laura stopped the car as she pulled up along the building. "Well, here we are." Laura said. "Now I want you to call me as soon as soon as your flight lands, okay?" This made Sara smile.

"I promise."

"I'll talk to you later, kiddo."

"Bye." And then not a minute later she was watching her mother drive away and was standing all alone.

_Here we go_, Sara thought as she picked up her bag and headed into the building. Five minutes later Sara was staring at something that caused her some frusteration, she had just been informed that her flight had been cancelled due to the weather.

"Just perfect."

--

"Earth to Grissom," Greg said, waving his hands in front of Grissom's face.

"Huh?" Grissom responded; definately in his own little world.

"What are you ordering?" Greg says as he notions towards the waitress standing at the end of their booth, pen and paper in hand.

"Oh, um..." Grissom quickly glances down towards his menu, "I'll just have a coffee, please." he finally orders. The waitress then collected their menus and walked away with their orders.

"Well, you're totally 'with it' today." Catherine teases.

"I'm just tired."

"_Just_ tired?"

"Catherine,"

"Yes?" she asks his, head cocked to the side, feigning ignorance.

"Nothing," Grissom finishes as he shakes his head. Catherine was about to say something when a loud roar of thunder shakes the diner. Moments later, the lights begin to flicker off and back on.

"We better get our food before the power goes completely out!" Nick says, while the lights, once again, flicker off and then back on again.

"Well I'm definately not looking forward to driving in this." Greg says as he looks out at the rain pelting the windows. As they continue their conversation, Grissom zoned out again. His attention was caught by the weather woman on the TV.

"_Three thunderstorms are converging and heading right for us. So, up to three inches of rain. They're expected to hit in the next eight hours. Flash-flood warnings have been issued for the city and surrounding desert areas..._" the last time he heard those exact words was, "_...May 18th of last year was the last time that we had a storm this bad..._"

_That day_, he thought to himself, _that horrible day_. For a moment all he saw was the miniature, losts of rain, Natalie, the desert, and Sara's limp body laying in her hospital bed. He closed his eyes tight for a moment and tried to shake the images from his head. He felt the beginning of a bad migrane coming on. _Just perfect_, he thought to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey, my flight was cancelled so I just want to let you know that if I can't catch another flight I'll probably just catch a c

"Hey, my flight was cancelled so I just want to let you know that if I can't catch another flight I'll probably just catch a cab back to your place," Sara said into her cell phone as she walked with her suitcase out of the airport and sat outside on a nearby bench, "but anyway, I'll call you later, bye." she then closed her phone and contemplated on what to do next. It was only a five minute drive to Laura's house, which would end up being about a twenty minute walk, give or take a few minutes. And it would be sundown within the hour.

_Oh what the heck_, Sara thought, _walking it is_. Sara then grabbed her purse and suitcase and began to walk along the side of the road to her mother's house. "Thank God for wheelie suitcases," she said out into the open as she walked. Six minutes later, Sara was about a fourth of the way there when she heard a loud crack of thunder; thirty seconds later... it began to pour. "Just my luck." Sara said as she quickened her pace in hopes of reaching Laura's before she was completely drenched. Not more than two minutes later after the rain started to fall, the sky turned night-time dark; and the rain just kept falling. The only thing indicating to Sara of where she was, was the occasional street light along her way. After a total of ten minutes, Sara was just over half of the way there, and unfortunately, completely drenched as well as freezing.

She heard a car slowly approaching and when she turned around and realized that she had been walking in the middle of the road. As the car slowed up right behind her, Sara made her way back onto the shoulder to allow the car to pass. She thought it was strange when it didn't. Sara looked over her shoulder and noticed the car tailgating her; which she became immediately suspicious about. She waved her arm in a gesture towards the car that said, "go ahead." But the car still kept its steady two miles per hour speed-- directly behind her. Worried, and growing scared, Sara quickened her pace even more; as did the car. She slowly got faster as the car began to speed up right along with her; matching her speed every time. What this guy was doing, or planning on doing, Sara didn't intend on finding out. Sara finally had enough when she practically began jogging, as the car kept directly behind her every time. Suddenly, she heard a screech between tired and pavement as she turned to see the car coming at her, full speed. Dropping her suitcase and purse, Sara began to run for her life. She got about fifty yards when the car clipped her, and she tripped off of the road and into a small, but steep ravine on it's side. After rolling for a good thirty yards, Sara tried to bring herself to her feet, but a sharp pain in her ankle begged her to stop. She collapsed after a few steps, wet, cold, exhausted, and scared out of her mind. Trying to crawl somewhere where her assailant wouldn't spot her. A few seconds later the sound of a car door slamming brought her attention back to the top of the ravine, where a man was beginning to walk down towards her. He was carrying something with him; a bat, maybe. Adrenaline running through her body, Sara kept desperately trying to crawl to safety, yet with no avail. The man had spotted her through the pouring rain and was making his way towards her. She saw him approaching and tried her best to get herself up and run. Practically dragging her leg behind her, she began sobbing. Why? Why me? Why again? she thought. Slipping and falling, she began crawling through the mud. The man soon caught up to her, grabbed the back of her head, as well as a handful of hair, and jerked her head up to look at him. The sight of him made chills run through Sara's body."

"Jason." she choked out. Jason raised his bat and swung, full force, down onto the back of Sara's shoulder. As she let out a scream of pain, she fell flat on her back and lay there for a moment, until she rolled over onto her front and tried her best to lift herself onto all fours.

"Where the he11 do you think you're going?" Jason said. He then kicked her hard in the stomach, smiling as another scream escaped her mouth. Sara was now crying with pain as she curled up into a ball. Soon another scream shook the night, but it was not from Sara.

"Jason, stop it!"

Emma. _She must've drove with him_, Sara thought. "Leave her alone!" she was crying and pleading with him.

"Get back in the car now!" he screamed back to her.

"No!" she continued, "Just stop this!"

"Say one more word and I'll knock ya lights out." he warned. Emma continued to cry as she sat herself on the ground and helplessly watched Sara lay on the ground. With leaving no time to spare, Jason quickly lifted his bat again, and targeted Sara's stomach. Hitting a little higher than planned, he heard bones break. Sara closed her eyes tight and let out a low, painful cry.

"Please stop." She managed to cry out. Looking for Emma's eyes she pleaded with her as well. "Help me," Sara said.

"I'm so sorry," Emma whispered to her through her tears. "I'm so sorry..." she kept repeating over again. Jason soon proceeded to kick her in the back numerous times; almost as if kicking a soccer ball. With each blow, Sara's cries got quieter and quieter. She was giving up. _I can't do this anymore--But you have to fight--Just kill me already--No, you'll get through this--I'm too weak--Think of Gil_. Sara then opened her eyes and tried one final time to crawl away. Tried, but then failed once Jason kicked her arm, causing her upper body to collapse back onto the ground. You could hear her fear in every sob. Sara then rolled onto her back as she began to beg with him.

"Jason. Please, just leave me alone." she whispered to him, her crying taking over.

"You're kidding me, right?" he said, "What did I say? All I told you was, 'don't push me.' But you did much more than that. You practically knocked me over and stepped on me,"

"What are you talking about?" Sara questioned as she began to gasp for air; it was becoming harder and harder for her to breathe.

"Don't play dumb with me you b1tch. Remember saying this? 'I'll call the cops on you, yada yada,' Well I didn't think you had the guts to do it. But it sucks for you cause I spotted them on my doorstep while driving home and just kept on driving. And it sucks even more for you that I happened to find you. But don't worry. I won't kill you. I'll just knock you around a bit more, then leave you here to die.--Oh, wait. Then I guess I kind of am killing you then!" he laughed.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Shut up you lying b1tch."

"I didn't call cops--"

"I said shut up!" he yelled as he kicked her under her chin; and hard. Sara was out cold; un-moving, and not breathing. Emma, still crying, crawled up to her and just looked at her limp body.

"No!" she cried out as she rose to her feet, facing Jason. "You killed her!" she cried.


	5. Chapter 5

"Shut up, Emma." he said as he finally began to realize what he had done. "Now, help me hide her body." he said. Emma simply looked up at him in disbelief.

"What?" she whispered.

"Either help me, or I'll do it myself, and stick you there with her!" he threatened. Emma began crying again as he grabbed Sara's feet and began to drag her into the woods. "Get your ass over here and grab her arms." Emma slowly made her way to Sara, and grabbed her arms. As she helped Jason pull her body, her crying got more hysterical.

"I'm so sorry." Emma kept on whispering. After about five minutes they came upon a large, old abandoned well; about seven feet in diameter. Jason dropped Sara's legs, walked over to it, and looked down into it. He then began to laugh,

"How funny," he said, glancing into the hole. Looking at Emma, he began to explain. "When we were growing up I told her that I'd hide her body in this exact well if she ever mad me mad. I like how I kept me word..." he said, laughing some more. "Now, bring her here."

"No, Jason please--"

"Shut up or I'll kill you too!"

Just then a loud roar of thunder shook the ground. Emma obeyed. She grabbed Sara's legs and struggled to drag her to the edge of the well. Jason then proceeded to lift Sara up, and simply drop her. After an approximate twenty foot drop. Sara landed in the empty well; hard. There was about three inches of water in the large well. She laid on her back, un-moving, and assumed dead. "Let's get out of here."

"Jason," Emma choked out. "can you please let me say goodbye?"

"Hurry up, I'm going to the car."

Emma cautiously looked into the well and hated the sight she saw. Sara's mangled body lay face up; a leg visibly broken as well as an arm perhaps; she was covered in layers of mud mixed with blood. "Oh, Sara. This is all my fault." She began, "It should be me in that well; not you." Unbeknownst to Emma, Sara soon opened her eyes slightly. She was alive; and could hear someone talking. "When you left after saying goodbye, I overheard your conversation with Jason."  
_  
What's going on?_ Sara thought, _Where am I?  
_  
"You said that you'd call the cops on him, and since you were leaving and he didn't know that, it gave me an idea."  
_  
Why can't I move? What's wrong with me?!  
_  
"So when your flight was supposed to have taken off, I placed an anonymous call to the cops about Jason and all those things that he had done. You know? Maybe get him put in jail for a little while.  
_  
Emma, is that you?  
_  
"But I thought we'd be home before the cops would arrive. He saw them standing on our porch and freaked out on me, so I did what I thought would be smart."  
_  
Emma, what's going on?_

"I told him that it was probably you. I thought that maybe he'd go to your mom's house and discover you gone, so he wouldn't find you. And hopefully before he would find you in Vegas, the cops would have gotten a hold of him."  
_  
What are you talking about? What's wrong with me?_

"I never meant for any of this to happen. But one day when he's finally put away, I promise I'll leave him, I'll get away. Thank you for everything. I'm sorry, Sara."  
_  
Why can't I move? Emma!  
_  
Emma then got up and left Sara alone, walking back to Jason in his car.

"Emma," Sara miraculously managed to whisper. But Emma was gone. Sara was now all alone, and would die very soon if no one found her. She had to think, and fast. With her last bit of strength she had, she reached down into her pocket, and found her cell phone! Pulling it out, she called the first person she could think of, and held the phone up to her ear. Everything she was doing was a struggle. The call went straight to voicemail.  
_  
"Hi, you've reached Gil Grissom, I'm not here at the moment..."_

Damn, Sara cursed herself. She then began to cry softly. She was going to die, and there was nothing she could do. But the sound of the beep at the end of the message captured her attention. She tried her best to talk.

"Gil--" her first attempt at talking was cut short; she began coughing fiercely. With her voice barely above a whisper, she tried again. "Gil, help." she then coughed again. "Help. Well. Hurt." Sara could only stammer out small one-syllable words. At this point, even that was hard to do. "Please help. Gil. I need you." Sara's coughing became worse, as she started feeling dizzy and lightheaded. "I love you," were the last words she said before she lost consciousness for a final time, dropping the phone.


	6. Chapter 6

"No guys, it's my turn to pay." said Nick. They had all been debating for the past couple minutes as to who would pay.

"You sure?" Warrick asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, then I'll go get the car and bring it to the front so we don't have to walk all the way to it in this weather." Greg told them as he put his coat on and headed out into the parking lot in the pouring rain. Moments later, Nick returned to their booth.

"Okay, we're paid for! Where'd Greggo go?"

"To get the car." Catherine informed him.

"Good plan."

Turning her attention towards Grissom, Catherine grew concerned. He had his head in his hands and looked just plain sick. "Hey, you okay?" she asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her.

"Migraine." He simply said. Not lying, though it wasn't the entire truth.

"Sounds like fun." Warrick said.

"Tons."

They then heard the beeping of a car horn as they saw Greg with his truck, pulled up to the front.

"Let's not keep him waiting." Catherine says.

"I got shotgun!" Warrick calls as he exits the diner first.

"Aw man! You got it on the way up..." Nick complain as he makes his way outside as well. Catherine looks back at Grissom as she stands and hands him his jacket.

"You sure you're okay?" she asks a second time. He gives her a small smile.

"I'm fine."

"Alright, if you say so."

They both quickly left Frank's and hopped into Greg's car. The ride back to the lab went by as all of the CSI's quickly got into their respective cars and drove to their homes. Grissom quickly got into his car and put his keys into the ignition, then looked for his phone. Not finding it in his pockets he tried to retrace his steps as to where it was. He didn't remember having it at the diner. What about Greg's car? No, not there. His office? Well where else would it be...

He got out of his car and hurried himself into the lab, trying to keep himself as dry as possible in his jacket. Finally reaching the confines of the lab, he began the walk to his office, waving to Judy as he passed her station. Reaching his destination, he unlocked the door to his office and walked in. Walking over to his desk he searched on top of it, then in his desk. Not there, or there. Then stooping down he peered under it; finding his cell, finally. Flipping it open, he noticed a blank screen staring back at him. Grissom then tried turning it on, but with no avail. _Dead battery,_ his thoughts confirmed. Putting his phone inside his pocket, he made his way down the halls of the lab, out the door, and towards his car, again. Getting inside his car he then started his drive back to his apartment.

Arriving home, he threw his jacket onto the coffee table and took a seat onto the couch. Hank happily approached his master, taking a seat at the on the floor in fron of Grissom. "Hey boy," Grissom said to the dog as he scratched behind his ears "Miss me?" the dog responded by laying down, yawning, and proceeding to fall asleep. "I guess not." he said to no one. Now what to do...

Cell phone. Walking into their-- his bedroom, he plugged his phone into the charger, and turned it on. Seconds later, a high pitched beeping filled the room. Opening his phone, the screen read, **ONE NEW VOICE MESSAGE**. Sitting down on the bed, he called his viocemail, and listened on the other end. Static. When the message ended he pressed 1, playing it again. This time he could hear someone talking, but couldn't make out any of the words. Replaying the message one last time, he couldn't make out one word. _Maybe I'm just tired_, he thought to himself. Putting his cell phone atop the dresser, he then began to get ready for bed; which also including taking something for his ever-increasing migraine.

* * *

He had been laying in his been for the good part of an hour. Sleep had not yet come. He had had trouble with getting back to sleep in the first couple months that Sara was gone, but he soon grew used to it. Sitting up in his bed, he flung his feet over the edge and hands on his knees. _Damn migraine_, he thought to himself. Rubbing his temples he stands and walks into the bathroom. Opening his cabinet, he then takes more of his migraine medicine; hoping that it would soon leave him. Twenty minutes later he was laying back down in his bed; finally fast asleep. His dreams pleasantly filled with images of times he and Sara had spent together. All leading up to when Sara had kissed him goodbye, and began walking slowly down the halls of the lab; it had been the last time he had seen her in many months. Suddenly these dreams were anything but dreams. As she walked away, everything in his dreams went black. Soon the only thing there was him and her letter. Just standing there, all alone. Next thing, he was standing in the middle of a forest; it was raining. He then began walking, and walking, and walking. Then he heard it.

"Gil."

Quickly turning arourd, he tried to find the source of the voice. It almost sounded like her voice...

"Gil... help."

Looking to the right and about 50 yards into the forest, there she was.

"Sara." he gasped. It almost felt real. She was walking-- no wait, she was running away. Her head turning back at him, facing him. She was pale, like a ghost.

"Gil... hurry, please." She kept going.

"Sara!" he began running after her. "Sara, I'm coming!" he yelled.

"Hurry, it might be too late..." she yelled back.  
_  
What? Too late... _he thought to himself.

"It's right here... no!" she cried, looking down at something on the ground and falling to her knees. He began approaching her and as he layed his hand upon her shoulder, everything went black again.

"Sar-- Sara! No..." Grissom yelled into the open. Then he heard something else. Static. And then, her voice again. She sounded quiet, shaky even. As if she were scared. It was the sound that made his heart ache.

"_Gil... help_."

"Sara... where are you?"

"_Help. Well. Hurt_."

She was coughing; in pain. Something was wrong.

"Honey, please. Where are you?" Suddenly, she was standing a few feet in front of him.

"Listen again... and come find me." she then turned around and began walking. Within a matter of seconds she was out of sight. Then the last thing he heard was her scream.  
Springing up in his bed and away from his nightmare, he looked around at the morning light creeping in through the cracks in his blinds and whispered to himself. "It was only a dream..." Looking around the first thing he spotted was his phone. He then remembered his dream,  
"_Listen again..." _she had said. _You're crazy, Gil._ He thought to himself. _But... what harm could it do. _He then picked up his phone and once again dialed the nunber to his voice mailbox.

* * *

As if time had reround itself, Sara soon found herself standing just outside the airpost; and with no recollection of the night prior. As far as she was aware, she had just been dropped off by her mother, moments before. Looking around, she noticed she was not with her suitcase.  
_Hmm, I must have taken care of it already_. she tells herself.

Looking around and finding no clock on any of the walls, she walks up to the clerk and asks,

"Excuse me, do you have the time?" Gaining no response, Sara waits a moment. "Excuse me, miss?" Sara says, leaning over the counter a bit, trying to get the woman's attention. Still no response. "Excuse me?!" Sara says as she waves her hand in front of the woman's face, getting very annoyed. Preparing to raise her voice even higher, she is stopped when a man walks up to the same woman at the same counter.

"Excuse me, but where are the bathrooms?"

"If you walk through the entrance, there will be a hallway directly to your left; that's where you can find them."  
_  
You have GOT to be kidding me! _Sara thinks as her anger rises.

"Now, this is just plain rude!" Sara tells the clerk, raising her voice. Though when the woman still doesn't notice her, Sara storms off in search of another employee. Seeing one walking back from the backrooms, Sara tries to catch up with him.

"Excuse me, sir?" No response. "Hello? Do you hear me?" Still no response.  
_  
What on Earth is going on? _she begins to think, _It's like I'm a ghost!  
_  
She then jogs up to a security guard and, after yelling and even jumping around in front of him, she got the same response as the other two employees; nothing. Something was up.

"Hello, can anybody hear me!?" She screams walking around in the middle of the airport. "Please, anybody? Hello!" she continues to scream as she runs up to various strangers, waving her hands in their faces. She then starts to cry. _What's going on? Am I dreaming? _Sara then gives up and sits in the middle of the floor of the busy airpost, and puts her head in her knees and thinks. _Think Sara. What happened... _

Then, it all started to quickly come back to her.

Her delayed flight.

The storm.

A car.

A bat.

Pain; lots of pain.

Jason.

A well.

Calling Grissom.

Then, boom, nothing. There she was, alone.

"Oh my God." she says outloud. "I'm dead."


	7. Chapter 7

He waited a minute, and soon a familiar sound filled the speakers. Static. _"Listen again..."_ he thought as he remembered his dream. He then replayed the message, closed his eyes, and focused all of his attention on the message. Trying to catch anything around the static, he was determined to do. He could hear something; or someone, rather. He couldn't distinguish any words in particular, but there was someone talking, that was for sure. He replayed the message yet again, and tried to tell what was being said, then he heard one word that made his heart flutter. _"...Gil..."_ It was definitely Sara's voice that every so gently said his name and caused him to sit up straight in his bed. Eyes wide open, ears focusing on every part of the message, head pounding. Listening intently to the message, the next phrase he was not able to fully understand, yet the one after that gave him chills. _"... help. Well. Hurt..."_ Either he was still dreaming, or something was wrong. It was like de ja vu. Though despite this shock to him, he was still set on deciphering the rest of the message. More static filled his ears as well as more words he could not understand._ "... I need..." "... love..."_ those were the only other three words that Grissom could understand within the recording. Quickly closing his phone, he retrieved a notepad and pen from the drawer in the nightstand and wrote down the words that he had just listened to. He reticed them as he wrote,

"Gil. Help well hurt. I need. Love." he read it over and over again as his mind raced, _Is something wrong? "help well hurt," what does that even mean? What am I supposed to do now?_ Stopping his thoughts, he realized that he needed to calm down in order to think properly, or even to reason with himself. _There was a lot of static, and I might be misinterpreting whatever it is she said. And I might have missed some key parts of it with those words I couldn't understand._ Thinking more optimistically, Grissom soon began to slowly calm down a little at a time. But there was two things that he knew for sure. He was either freaking out over nothing, or trying to convince himself that everything was okay, when in reality, it wasn't. Looking at the alarm clock to the left of him, it read a bright red 11:49 AM; almost noon. He slept in a bit late._ I can always just call her and check up on her._ he thought to himself. Taking a few minutes to compose himself he dialed her number and waited.  
He then found himself smiling as he listened to, not the normal ringing noise that usually accompanies one during the wait of a call, but a song on the other end play. He never knew why, but Sara always had the undying need to have music play when he called as well as special ring tones for the different people she knew. He remembered asking her about what if someone from work would call her and hear that, how unprofessional it would seem. But she would always reassure him with a smile, _"I made it special, so only you can hear it."_ Grissom never really knew how she did it, but she did. When he called from any other phone besides his cell phone, he would only hear the typical ringing, but on his cell, he heard a song. He didn't know the name of it, but he would always catch Sara walking around the house singing it. She would call it "their song", which he never fully understood as to why it was "their" song, even to this day. Interrupting the memory came her voice, but much to Grissom's chagrin, it was only the recording. He then decided to leave a message of his own.

"Hey Sara. I--um, just called to check up on you. Uh, just to see how you're doing. Please call me back when you get this... please. I love you."  
Hanging up, he placed his phone down, and headed to his closet in search for clothes for his day. With his migraine still with him, work that night was going to be very, very long. Though in the back of his head, he still held the feeling that something was wrong.

* * *

She was walking along a busy road on a sidewalk of a small part of town. Passing the various little shops and restaurants that took up most of the space on either side of her. People were walking in and out of the doors of the shops and boutiques; bags in hand. Sitting down on a bench, she watched the people as they passed. Some of them with smiles on their face, laughing. Others looked plain-faced, like they had either had a bad day at work, or they were just tired. She looked to the sky and at the birds flying above her; it was clear out today, only a cloud or two floating above. It was also warm with a slight breeze, which relieved her when she felt it. Everything was calm, unphased, like nothing had happened. No matter what would happen today, the world would keep on spinning and other people would keep on living. She placed her hands on the bench at each side of her and felt it's rough, bumpy texture. The wooden bench was covered with a beige colored paint, which was slowly chipping away. She could smell the recent cooking of fast food which eminated from a young girl skipping along with her mother, presumably. She had a small box of french fries in her hand as she told her mother about something which had to do with school the day before, she guessed. She listened to the soft hum of the cars as they passed. There was no beeping or screeching of tires or any obnoxious noises of the sort. It was all very, peaceful. An old woman soon found her way to the bench and sat beside her, she was looking around as if trying to find someone. Meeting a friend, maybe.

"So this is what it's like to be dead." Sara said to the woman while looking back up to the sky at an airplane slowly making it's way across and out of her view. The woman then waved to a young man approaching, her son possibly, and left her seat on the bench. Everything was so peaceful.  
Maybe _this_ is what it's like to be dead. Sounds become sharper, and world becomes more clear. But what if she just had been moving to fast to be able to stop and take a deep breath away from everything. Maybe that's what she had needed to do instead of runaway from her life. She was moving at warp speed and needed to slow down. _I could have definitely tried doing that before_, she thought to herself. _Not that it really mattered anymore._ When Sara had left the airport, she ran. Into a car, actually. Or, it had run into her at least. But it didn't stop, it just kept on going. Like it was before. It didn't matter, she _was _dead after all. Wasn't she? That's where she became confused, she could hear things and see things, and even smell and feel things. Which was not exactly what she was expecting. Well, she wasn't expecting anything really. Dying wasn't exactly on her list of things to do that day. _Aren't ghosts supposed to be floating and see-through? _she thought to herself. Looking down at herself (solid and non-floating) sitting on the bench she erased that thought from her mind. "Nope, definitely not." But she could feel things. That's what confused her the most. When she was nailed by the car, she felt it. There was no pain, which freaked her out a little, but still, she had felt it.  
Which could not be easily said for the truck, or it's driver. She felt her side where she had been hit, and felt no bumps, bruises, or breaks. Even her clothes seemed to be in perfectly fine condition. They appeared as they did when she had put them on earlier, or the day before, or maybe it could've been two days before for all she knew. "Not that it matters." she gloomily told herself. But-- how long _had _she been dead, was the next thought intruding her mind. But quickly blocking out that question she had to ask another, more important one. Had they even found her body?  
Did they even _know _that she was dead?! Sara then picked herself up and began the walk back to her mother's house. She _needed _to get out of her own little world and needed to know what was going on in the rest of the world.


	8. Chapter 8

Sara had finally reached her mother's house after some time. And when she got to the door she noticed that everything was rather, quiet. _Maybe she hasn't found out yet..._ she thought. She walked in to the house and began searching for Laura Sidle. After a minute she heard someone talking on the phone on the patio out in the backyard.

"I'm telling you, please can you send someone down here to help!" Laura sounded distressed, frustrated even. Sara wasn't too sure who she was talking to for a minute, but soon after she asked herself that, she had a pretty good idea. "She left me a message yesterday afternoon. I haven't heard anything since." Yep, she was calling the cops. "My name? Laura. Laura Sidle. My daughter is Sara Sidle-- Can't you just send someone down here, and _then _you can ask me your questions?" she paused and waited a minute, seeming to calm down. "Thank you, sir."

"No rush." Sara coldly said out loud. She watched her mother as she sat down on the edge of the patio, pulling her knees into her chest, and looking out at the fenced backyard. Sara approached her mother and sat down next to her. Neither mother nor daughter said a word as they sat, waiting for the police to show up. A little over ten minutes later there was a knock at the door. Laura rose to her feet and walked inside and to the door. Answering it, there was a man at the door.

"Long-time no-see," the older-looking cop said; he looked familiar to Sara. Though she couldn't remember where she had seen him before... "staying outta trouble now-a-days I hope, Laura." The portly man walked through the door.

"Cut it out, Henry," Laura said, not very amused, "this is serious."

"Alright, just making sure..." the cop said. "So what's this I hear about your daughter being missing?" he said, with a hint of skepticism in his voice.

"Yesterday afternoon, she left me a message saying her flight was cancelled, and that she'd either come back here or catch a later flight. Then she promised she would call me, yet I haven't heard anything at all from her." Laura said as Sara watched from a few feet away. The cop looked long and hard at her, then invited himself into the living room. Touching the couch he began picking at her nerves.

"I remember this couch." he said as he turned back to her, wearing a slight smirk. He turned back and finished his statement. "Someone did a hell of a job getting the blood stains out."  
_  
That was a low blow. _Sara thought to herself. Then she remembered where she had seen him before. He had been there that night. He also had been friends with her father. Laura breathed in and out deeply, as she put her hands on her hips and looked to the floor, shaking her head. This was going to be tough.

"That was twenty three years ago. And I did my time. So you can just please forget about that for two minutes and help me out here!?" Laura said, practically yelling. "This isn't about me, Henry, this is about my daughter." the man paid close attention to her. "About Richard's daughter." he then looked at her and let a deep breath out.

"Fine." and he left it at that.  
_  
That's much better,_ Sara thought. The man then began getting down to business; finally.

"So... wait. Isn't your daughter, like, thirty-something?"

"Sara. And she's thirty-five."

"Aah. So, when's the last time you saw her again?" Laura then took a seat on the couch and told him the same thing she had told the operator over the phone.

"... and it's been almost twenty-four hours, so I called you guys." she said as she finished. Sara had been sitting on the couch next to Laura, listening in on the conversation.

"Well, have you thought of any other possibilities?" he suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, maybe her phone died. Or she just forgot..."

"No, no, no. Sara promised. And she has never broken her promises. She would have found a way to call me." Laura told him. The officer thought for a little, then asked her another set of questions.

"She was heading to Vegas, right?" he looked at Laura for some confirmation. When she nodded, he continued, "have you tried to call her in Vegas?"

"No, I only have her cell phone number."

"Is there anyone we can call to confirm if she is there or not?"

"Um, she used to work at the Las Vegas crime lab. I think that's what she said anyway. Her fiance works there too."

"Good, good. We'll follow up on that. Is there anywhere else she might be?" he inquired.

"No, that's where she had her heart set on going. If she was heading anywhere, it was Vegas."

"Alright then." Now, his tone turned more quiet, and more serious. "Now, did she have any, enemies?" Laura smiled sadly and let out a humorous laugh.

"Only every person she helped to put away while she was in Vegas. You'd have to find out from someone else besides me." she said. The man then began towards the door, expecting Laura to follow; she did.

"Okay. Well I guess I'll head back to the station and we'll start making calls. You know the drill and all." he said. "There anything else you feel like you should let me know..." he asked. She then waved him over with her hand out of the door as they took a seat on the step of the porch.

"Remember last year, that one serial killer going around in Vegas. They called it the 'Miniature Killer'."

"Yeah, yeah. It made news over here. I'm pretty sure news of it hit all around the country, too. Little bits and pieces at least. Crazy chick made miniatures and then killed the people. Pretty freaky stuff." Laura simply nodded, "Killed 5 people I think? Then the sixth one, stuck under a car. I'm pretty sure she lived though. Wonder what ever happened to her." Laura, looking straight ahead, nodded.

"Right now she's missing. And her mother wants you to find her." she said looking him in the eye. Dumbfounded, he looked at her, jaw dropped.

"You've got to be shitting me." he babbled out; clearly not expecting that revelation. Laura simply nodded as she put on a sad smile.

"I don't want her to suffer any more. Please, find her. And if not for me, than do it for her, and for Richard." Henry stood up and smiled at her.

"I'll do my very best." and with that he left in his squad car.

Sara, who had been watching the two, soon, and silently, followed her mother back inside. Laura then found her way into her room, and closed the door. Sara decided to go back into the back yard and sit. Now that they were looking for her body. She could stop worrying, for now at least.  
Things were far from over.


	9. Chapter 9

About a half of an hour before the beginning of the night shift began, Gil Grissom was preparing to leave for work. But before that he needed to take just a couple more Advil for his throbbing head; hoping that his migraine would go away soon, or at least lessen. _At least I don't get them too often, _he told himself. But when he did get them, they could drive his concentration away from everything, and especially his work; which was never a good thing. So tonight, he could only hope that it would be a quiet one for the CSIs. Then the sound of his phone brought him into his kitchen, where the ringing was eminating from. His heart beat began to rise as he quickly made his way into the room, hoping that it was a certain someone returning his message. But it wasn't her; actually it was the person he would want it _not _to be.

INCOMING CALL: **ECKLIE**  
_  
He can wait. _Grissom thought as he closed his phone and put it into his pocket. He was leaving for work soon anyway; if he had to, he'd talk to them there. He left about five minutes later, and about two minutes into his drive, his phone began ringing once again. Stopping at a red light, he quickly brought his phone out of his pocket and looked at the called ID again. And yet again, it was Ecklie. Considering he was a little under ten minutes away, Grissom figured that he could wait a little longer. He'd be there soon, so whatever it was, it could wait just a bit longer. After the drive to the lab, he started walking into the lab as his phone started ringing again. Passing Judy's station, and picking his phone up to his ear, he didn't bother looking at the caller ID.

"Grissom."

"I need to talk to you." When Grissom heard the voice echo, he put his phone down and looked to the left, and at Conrad Ecklie standing in a doorway, closing his phone.

"Hello, Conrad."

"In my office now, Gil. It's important." He said as he turned and walked back into his office taking a seat behind his desk. Walking in, Grissom became a bit confused upon seeing Brass sitting in one of the chairs.

"What's this all about?" he inquired while approaching the two men; he then looked at Brass for an answer.

"Take a seat, Gil." Brass told him. Grissom then took a seat in the chair next to his friend and began wondering what could be wrong this time. By the looks of things, these two men knew something he didn't know; or maybe even didn't _want _to know.

"Alright, what's going on here?"

"When's the last time you saw Sara?" Ecklie asked. Grissom who was taken aback had to search to find his voice for a moment.

"Um, last November... but I'm confused; what exactly is going on here?" Grissom asked. Something wasn't right. Brass and Ecklie shared a look as Brass continued what Ecklie had started.

"Listen, Gil, there's no easy way to tell you this, but, about an hour ago we got a call from the San Francisco police department." Grissom shifted in his chair uncomfortably upon hearing this. "A missing persons report has been filed for Sara." Grissom's eyes grew wide as he began shooting out questions.

"What? When? Who filed the report?"

"It was filed by a Laura Sidle at about 4 PM this afternoon." Ecklie said as he read a peice of paper on his desk.

"What happened?" Grissom asked. Looking at another piece of paper, Ecklie began reading again,

"It seems that yesterday evening she was to board a plane to head here, to Vegas, but she never boarded the plane and hasn't been seen in over twenty-four hours. Wait, actually her flight was delayed. But she still never showed up..." Ecklie than finished and looked up at Grissom.

"She was... heading here?" Grissom asked.

"Yes," Brass answered, "so you haven't seen or heard from her?" Grissom thought hard.

"No. Not that I can remem-- wait." Grissom then remembered the message. _"Gil. Help well hurt. I need. Love." _he then quickly retrieved his phone from his pocket and put it on Ecklie's desk. "A message. She left me a message last night," both Ecklie and Brass grew more alert and listened intently to him, "it had a lot of static though. I couldn't understand much, only a few words here and there."

"What _can_ you remember from it... anything?" asked Ecklie as he motioned for Brass, with a nod of the head, to write it down on his notepad. Grissom didn't miss a beat.

"Gil. Help, well, hurt. I need. Love. There was a period of static between the words, then nothing." Brass nodded as he wrote down the words. "I couldn't understand anything else though." Brass then took it upon himself to take Grissom's phone and begin walking out. "Archie." Grissom said, more than he asked, as he didn't bother looking up.

"Bingo." And Brass was gone.

"Have you heard anything else?" Grissom asked, quietly. Ecklie leaned forward a bit,

"No, but I need to ask, if Sara had anyone, unknown by the department, who wanted to... hurt her?"

"No, not that I know of." Grissom admitted. He honestly didn't know anyone other than Natalie, who was locked away in a mental hospital, and that was pretty much it. Then suddenly, his logical side started fading away as the panic started to finally set in. Sara. _His _Sara, was missing.  
Somewhere all alone, scared or hurt. She just couldn't go through it again. Getting up and without another word he stormed out of Ecklie's office, leaving him slightly confused and worried.

"Don't do anything stupid, Gil!" he yelled out after him. But he didn't hear him. Gil Grissom needed to help her. He needed to find her. And to do that he needed to go to San Francisco.

One hour and nineteen minutes later, Grissom had run home, packed a small bag, and bought a ticket for the next flight out from Vegas to San Francisco. The plane had just taken off as he closed his eyes and tried his very best to calm himself down, as he whispered to himself, "I'm coming, Sara."


	10. Chapter 10

How do you solve a murder... when the victim is _you_?

Or, more importantly, how do you let people know who did it. You know what happened. Where it happened. And even why. What are you supposed to do now?

Sara had been sitting in the back yard all evening, thinking about all this. And what on Earth happens next? A bright white light at the end of the tunnel? _Too cliche_, she thought. No one can hear her or see her. Everyone else still thinks she is alive. Was there something she was supposed to do? She then got up and walked into the house. She then found her way into her old bedroom, which she had been occupying since November. Sitting up on the bed, she climbed fully onto it and sat in the center, legs tucked under her. Her arms were rested on her thighs as she looked around. _Now what? _It seems as if that were the only question she could ask herself. But, she still didn't know the answer. Laying on her back staring at the ceiling, her arm guided itself over to the night stand and opened up the small drawer, like she had done a thousand times within these past months. Sara then pulled out a picture with a slight wrinkle in it, and allowed her gaze to fall upon it. It was of her and Grissom, with Hank occupying the bottom of the photo; and it was her favorite picture of them. She remembered the day very well. It was a saturday morning and she was in a bad mood; the night before Grissom had promised he would watch a movie with her, and he had. Sort of. He fell asleep 10 minutes into it...

* * *

_"What do you want to do today?" Grissom asked her, as they sat together in their living room on the couch; the TV on in the background. He put his arm around her and pulled her to him. Sara kept her gaze on the TV, and simply shrugged. "What? Nothing?" he inquired. When she ignored him, he turned her head so she would face him, as he put on a puppy dog face._

"Excuse me." she said, annoyed. "But I _am trying to watch something. Try not to fall asleep." she said sarcastically. Turning her attention back to the news. She continued to ignore him._

"Sara. I said I'm sorry. I'm just not a fan of, um... those chick movies."

"What was the name?" she asked. Still not looking at him.

"The name?"

"Of the movie. You do remember that don't you?"

"Oh, yeah..." After about a minute, Grissom decided to, not so smoothly, change the subject.

"Let's see what else is on TV." he suggested as he reached across her and tried to grab the remote. But Sara beat him to it as she raised it high above her head away from him, and out of his reach.

"Gilbert Grissom!" she part-laughed, part-yelled. "You don't even know the name of it?"

"Of course I do... I just, don't. Um, remember it?" he said; asking more than stating. Sara then, not so gently, tossed the remote to Grissom, hitting him in the chest. She then crossed her arms in front of her and tried to ignore him again. "Sara." Grissom begged. "How can I make it up to you?" Sara barely had to think.

"Buy me a puppy." she said as she finally turned to face him. I sly smirk on her face. Definately catching Grissom off-guard. But he quickly recovered as he matched her smile and gave her a quick and simple response.

"Fine." he said as he stood up and brought her up with him. "Let's go."

2 hours later they were at a dog shelter and were preparing to bring home a new addition to their family. While they were there one of the employees took a quick picture; one that captured them in one of their happier moments.

Sara held the photo to her heart as tears soon began to fell.

Sara put the photo in her pocket as she got herself off of the bed and walked out of the room. She soon found her way into the kitchen as she sat in one of the four wooden chairs surrounding the fairly small kitchen table. They had been the same chairs that the Sidle family had used when Sara was young. Sara looked around, and realized her mother wasn't around. Rising up, she walked out of the kitchen, down the small hallway, to the right, and was face to face with her mother's closed bedroom door. Sara almost knocked on the door out of habit but then laughed sadly at the thought. Opening the door slightly, Sara peered inside to see Laura sitting up in her bed, reading a book. Stepping back out of the bedroom, Sara closed the door and began walking back in the direction of the kitchen. Emerging out of the small hallway, Sara's attention was brought to the sliding glass doorway occupying the back wall of the kitchen, where she had just heard a small, yet sudden, thud. Quickening her pace towards the door, she became a little nervous. She stepped up to the glass and looked around and into the backyard; nothing. She then cautiously sat herself back down in a chair, and upon looking on the ground of the deck outside, she sighed. There, about a foot away from the door, was a small bird, a robin perhaps, laying face up on the deck.  
_  
Poor thing, _Sara thought, _must've flown into the window.  
_  
The bird wasn't dead though. It's small chest was still quickly rising up and down despite the fact that it's eyes were closed and it lay face up, as well as it's small feet in the air. Sara almost expected it to jump up and fly away, but no. It stayed on the ground; the only sign of life in the small animal was it's tiny moving chest. Then something happened. Something weird, or surreal, or unnatural... Sara couldn't even find the right words to describe it. She heard something. A chirping. No, not an annoying ringing in your ears that you'd get every now and then, but an actual chirping; from a bird. Looking to her left, she struggled to keep herself from jumping back as a small bird had settled itself on her shoulder, singing a sweet tune in her ear. She took a double-take as she looked from the bird on her should to the bird on her deck outside. Wait.

It was the same bird. On her shoulder, and on the ground. Now, if Sara wasn't confused before, she sure was now. The bird was laying on the ground, and looked almost dead... but wasn't. The bird was on her shoulder, it could see her. To the little animal, she was real. They were in the same world. But the bird wasn't dead. So... was she dead? Sara then got out of the chair and onto the floor, scooting herself up to the sliding door, sitting Indian style. She watched the 'real' bird closely, as it's chest went up and down, up and down, and then, boom. Nothing; the movement in it's chest had now ceased to exist. Sara looked to her left, expecting the bird to still be there, perched on her shoulder. But it was gone. Just like that the bird had passed from one world and to the next. But not before stopping where Sara was currently. But in the state of confusion that overtook her, Sara wasn't even sure about where that was either.

The bird wasn't dead, but it was with her. Not dead. _Not_ dead.

"Not dead." Sara whispered out loud. "_Not_ dead." Sara said as she rose to her feet.

All this time, she had been wasting, while walking around moping about her "death." But now she was given hope.

"I'm still alive."


	11. Chapter 11

Grissom had been in San Francisco for a little over an hour now, and was currently in the back of a taxi, heading towards the San Francisco police department. He arrived minutes later as he paid his cab fare and approached the double doors to the building. Entering he found his way to the front desk, where a woman was talking on the telephone. She gave a gesture to him that said, one minute, as she quickly wrapped up her conversation and turned her attention towards Grissom.

"How may I help you, sir?" the red headed, soft-spoken woman asked with a sweet smile.

"My name is Gil Grissom and I'm from the crime-lab in Las Vegas," Grissom stated, while showing the receptionist his lab ID. "I would like to talk with someone concerning a recently reported missing person." The woman leaned forward, and lowered her glasses as she glanced at his ID. Looking back up she gave him another, more serious smile, and she flipped through a few pages on her desk.

"A Sara Sidle?" she quietly asked. Just she mention of her name made Grissom's heart ache. Grissom could only nod. "Well Mr. Grissom, you're going to want to talk to the officer on the case," she said as she did a bit of typing on her computer, "one moment, please. You can take a seat."  
Grissom then sat himself down in one of the chairs across the room and watched as the woman, who's name he hadn't cared to discover, made a phone call. Around ten minutes later, a man walked into the department, an officer actually. He approached the receptionist's desk as he talked for a few moments with the woman. They're small conversation ended when she motioned towards Grissom, as the man thanked her and approached him. Grissom then stood up as the officer put his hand out, as the two exchanged a hand-shake.

"Gil Grissom?" the man asked. Not waiting for any confirmation he continued, "Henry Owens. I was the one who answered the call about Ms. Sidle's disappearance; is there something I can do for ya?" the older man asked.

"I need to help out with this case." Grissom told him. The man just ran his hand over his face and sighed; he seemed to be expecting that.

"They were right." he said. After looking at Grissom's confused expression, he continued. "They called here a couple of hours ago, you know, from Las Vegas, and told us you would want to work it." Grissom could only think of one person; Ecklie. Yet he continued to listen to the officer to explain the situation. "I'm gonna save you the details and just tell you flat out, they aren't gonna let you work the case." Grissom's face seemed to lose all color, as if all the determination had just left his body. "Something about personal issues, and conflicts with lab stuff, and things like that. I wish I could give you more info on that but I was just notified a while ago by the sheriff _and _the DA, and those were my orders." Grissom knew it was best not to argue, but tried to get a least _some _information.

"Well... is there anything at all I can do, or any information you can give me..." Grissom's voice was tired, desperate even, as it trailed off mid-sentence. The man seemed to almost look down on him with pity. Then something seemed to click in the cops head.

"You're the fiance aren't you?" Henry asked quietly. Grissom smiled inwardly, but sighed sadly on the outside. "You know what, I'll give ya a hold of Laura, her mother." he said as he pulled out a blank piece of paper and scribbled an address on it. "You can catch the gist of the situation from her, but that's all I can do for ya." he concluded as he handed Laura Sidle's home address over to Grissom. Grissom gladly received the slip of paper.

"Thank you." he smiled, as he soon left the building, hearing a "good luck" follow after him.


	12. Chapter 12

"I'm still alive."

She had never run faster in her entire life, but within seconds she was back in her mother's bedroom. Her mother was still reading the book, but every now and then kept looking out the window and into the front yard as if waiting for Sara to pull up in a taxi.

"Mom." she said as she got on the bed and brought her self next to Laura. "Mom, I need your help." she pleaded. "I'm dying out there!" Sara screamed. She was alive, but it seemed like everything was hopeless, no one could hear her. "Please hear me! I'm begging you..." she cried. She then grabbed a hold of her mother by the shoulders and began to scream, "I'm dying out there, mom! And all you can do is sit there, and read a god damn book!" she was looking into her mother's eyes with her own fiery ones, as she ripped the book from her mother's grasp and threw it. Sounds of shattering glass could be heard as the window shattered. Sara got off of the bed and walked up to the wall, as she rested her forehead against it. What was she going to do? Punching the wall she turned around and looked at the room. It was almost as if nothing had happened. The window was still in tact, and her mom remained unphased, book still firmly in her grasp, with eyes trained on the words inside.  
The doorbell soon gained both of the women's attention. Laura, put the book down as the got off of the bed and headed in the direction of the front door. Sara stayed in the room though, as she sat down, pulled her legs up to her chest and began to softly cry.

"Can I help you?" she could hear her mother ask from down the hall.

"I'd like to talk to you about Sara."

That voice. Sara then got herself on her feet, as she quickly wiped her tears and walked towards the door of the bedroom, still listening.

"Ok... and who are you again?" she heard her mother say. Turning the corner and facing the door, she held back a sob.

"Gil Grissom." he said, a bit uneasy.

"Aaah. Yes, Sara has mentioned you on many occasions." Laura said smiling. "Why don't you come on in." she said, as she gave room for him to enter inside. He shyly nodded as he stepped inside and looked around at the small, yet tidy house. He then followed Laura to the right and into a small living room. Sara could only look at him. He had lost weight, and grown back his beard, too. But the features on his face were long and tired.  
He had dark circles under his eyes and looked almost ill.

"Oh, Gil," Sara said, trying not to cry. All she wanted to do was run up to him and leap into his arms. It nearly killed her to know she couldn't. After all this time, all she could do was sit and watch. Grissom and Laura had taken seats opposite to each other, a coffee table separated the two pieces of furniture they each occupied.

"So, wh-what happened." Grissom asked Laura, his voice cracking a little bit. Laura inhaled slowly as she told what she had been telling everyone else during the past day. Starting with dropping Sara off and ending with never receiving a call.

"We thought that maybe she was with you, and we just didn't know it." Sara, had been watching the two, while crying. Grissom looked out the window and closed his eyes. "I wish she had been."


	13. Chapter 13

"Can I get you anything?" Laura asked him as she rose out of her seat, "water, coffee..." she offered.

"Coffee, please." he answered politely. As she began walking, Grissom got up from the couch and looked around the room. Sara watched sadly as he walked over to a small side table and picked up a small framed photo. Walking up behind him, she wiped her tears and gave a small smile. It was a picture of her family, from many years ago. She noticed how Grissom studied it, as he would anything else; it was his nature. Sara had been 4 at the time, during a time when her family was still a happy one. No fighting, or trips to the hospital. Setting the picture down, he turned as Laura reentered the room, with two cups of coffee. Taking one of the cups from her hand, he thanked her and sat back down. After a moment, Laura broke the silence.

"I just want you to know," she said quietly as she readjusted herself in her seat, "that all Sara could talk about the first couple months was how she missed you." she finished softly. Grissom offered a smile and slowly nodded as he sipped his coffee. While Sara watched and listened she sat next to him as she brought his hand into hers, just so she could feel him, and know that he really was there. She almost jumped when something strange happened. As soon as she had taken a hold of his hand, he flinched, as he glanced downward at his hand and reflexively put it into his pocket. Sara's shock soon turned to hope.

"Gil," she whispered, "Gil I'm right here." she said louder. But Grissom didn't respond. Laura then stood up and began walking.

"I can show you her room if you follow me here." she said over her shoulder as she walked down the hall and turned into a small bedroom. Grissom stood and followed her, with Sara trailing behind him. He entered the room and looked around. A bed laid between a nightstand and a tall lamp on one end of the room, and on the other end, a dresser. It wasn't much, but it was where Sara had been staying and dealing with her problems, alone. Walking over to the bed, he laid his hand on the soft comforter.

"I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything." Laura said as she exited the room, closing the door behind her, and left Grissom alone. Sitting on the bed, he picked up the pillow and brought it up to his face, breathing in deeply. He smiled into the fabric as it smelt of her; how he missed waking up to the scent of her shampoo. But back in Vegas, over the months, her scent had faded away from the pillows, Hank had stopped waiting by the door for her, and had he stopped preparing dinner for two. He stopped living the way he had become so accustomed to, the way he loved living. And he missed it more than anyone could ever imagine. Sara sat next to him on the bed and watched him as she began speaking to him, as if he could hear her.

"I missed you," she whispered, "I still do." she said as she ran her hand down his arm, hoping to receive another reaction like the one before. But there was nothing, no flinch, no anything_. Maybe it was just coincidence,_She thought. "I wish you could hear me," she said as he put the pillow down, "see me," he then spotted the drawer to the side table open about an inch, and opened it slowly, "feel me." Grissom then spotted the picture Sara had been keeping. She scooted over closer to him and peered over his shoulder. She let out a quick laugh as she realized what he had found. Picking up the photograph Grissom ran his hand over her face as he smiled at the memory. He then set the picture down on the bed and closed the drawer as he blinked back unshed tears. Sara wanted to just hold him and tell him she was okay, but that wouldn't be the truth. She wasn't okay, her time was running out by the second. He put his head in his hands and then stood up and walked to the far side of the room. He looked out the window and over the front yard as a car passed by the road ahead. Sara sighed as she made her way over to him, resting her hand on his shoulder when she reached him.

"I wish I could tell you how much I lov-"

"I wish I had told you how much I love you." he said out loud, unknowingly cutting off Sara, mid-sentence. Before Sara could react, her mother entered the room and broke the eerie silence.

"Will you be staying for dinner?" she asked kindly. He then smiled at her and shook his head.

"No thank you, I think I should get going." he said walking back over to the bed, picking up the picture and slipping it into his pocket. Watching them interact, Sara began to follow them out of the bedroom door; something was happening. Something weird. And she was going to follow him until she knew what to do next.


	14. Chapter 14

Sara followed them out of the room, through the hallway, and into the foyer.  
"Well, it was very nice meeting you," Grissom politely said as he held out his hand.  
"Likewise," Laura said, shaking his hand, "If I hear anything, anything at all, then I'll let you know." She said to him comfortingly, with a sad smile.  
Grissom nodded and gave her a small "thank you," before going out the door and up to his rental car. Sara watched him from the front lawn as he unlocked the car and opened the door, thinking if she should go with him or not.  
Back inside, Laura went into the kitchen to start cleaning up. But when her eyes found the opened first aid kit, still laying on the kitchen countertop, one name popped into her head. "Jason," she nearly gasped.  
Sara, at the last minute, decided that it was best if she went with him. She opened the passenger door and hopped in just seconds before Grissom began backing out of the driveway. When she slammed the car door shut, it still frusterated her that he couldn't hear or see the simple task, just like it wasn't even happening. But then something caught him off-gaurd. Just after he had gotten the car out of the driveway and onto the street, Laura Sidle bursted through the front door of the house, waving her arms and yelling at him to stop. Which he, of course, did. Rather abruptly though.  
"Damnit!" Sara yelled as the car jerked to a stop, catching her by suprise as she flew forward about a foot, stopping only when the dashboard got in the way. Mumbling under her breath, she put the seat-belt on and crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking like a 5-year old whose parents wouldn't buy her ice cream.  
Rolling down the window, Grissom gazed curiously at the woman, who had covered the space between the front door of the house and the edge of her yard in record-time. Reaching her destination, she didn't even pause to catch her breath before she started talking a mile a minute.  
"When the police came by earlier, they asked me if they knew anyone who would want to hurt Sara, and I said I wouldn't know, but actually I forgot about someone who might have had something to do with this," stoping for a moment, Laura took, what seemed to be, the first breath since she left her house, and then continued, "Jason Hughes. He's our next door neighbor and he and Sara got into an arguement yesterday morning. Actually it hadn't been the first time but--"  
"Laura," Grissom said as he raised his hand up, signaling for her to stop, "you need to slow down. Now who is this again?"  
Sara who had been watching her mother ramble on, word after word, then sat up in her seat and looked at her mom, a wide smile spread across her face. "Yes!" she whispered excitedly to herself.  
Laura took a few deep breaths before continuing. "His name is Jason Hughes. He and Sara had an argument yesterday morning which resulted in Sara getting a sprained wrist. He even makes threats to her almost daily and I haven't seen him since Sara disappeared, and... oh God..." Laura seemed to want to say something else, but nothing else escaped her mouth, except the small half-sob, half-cough that fought it's way through her words.  
Grissom smiled at her and gave her small reassurances that everything would be okay. He waited for her to go back inside the house before he pulled back out into the street.  
"That's it," Sara said while facing him, sporting a large yet loving smile, "come find me."  
The smile had faded from his lips as a fire ignighted in his eyes. He didn't know where he was going or how he'd find this guy, but one thing was for sure. He would like to have a _chat_ with this, Jason Hughes.

The first place that Grissom thought to go was back to the Police Department to give them the little bit of information that he had just acquired... and also to find this guy. Parking the car in the first spot he could find, he quickly got out and made his way toward the building. While he walked toward the station, he was lucky enough to find the man he had talked to earlier, regarding Sara, leaving. Quickening his pace just slightly, he reached the man as he was getting into his car.  
"Officer Owens." Grissom said.  
"I'm off duty," the man said, without looking up. He then began to fumble around with his keys and cursed under his breath when he dropped them on the floor of the car.  
"It's Gil Grissom," he informed the officer, "we spoke earlier..." he continued, trying to jog the cop's memory. Lifting up his head the man looked at Grissom.  
"Oh yeah. Um, what can I do for you?" he asked, seemingly confused about this 2nd visit to the police station. Grissom then filled the officer in on what he had learned at Laura Sidle's house, or at least, what he had learned regarding Jason Hughes.  
Looking at Grissom, the man pulled out his notepad that he carried with him, flipped a couple pages, and returned his gaze to Grissom. "Did you say Hughes? As in _Jason_ Hughes?" he inquired. Upon receiving Grissom's nod, he continued talking. "Mr. Hughes was picked up by the cops yesterday afternoon, before the missing person report was filed." Grissom's eyes widened as the man kept talking, "Drug possession." Henry shrugged. "His girlfriend bailed him out about a half an hour ago though," he said, glancing down at his watch, "so he's probably back home by now."  
Grissom then took a deep breath and remained silent. Probably thinking about what he should do next. Sensing this, the cop decided to give him a warning, "Listen, I know you're upset about, all of this," he said, gesturing with his hands, "but you can't go looking for this guy. Hell, I'd be in deep shit if they knew I was even telling you all of this."  
Grissom gave him a smile and shrug as he said, "I understand." _But that doesn't mean I can't have _just_ a _chat _with him,_ he thought.  
"Good." the officer said, clearly pleased with the understanding. "Now I assure you we have people, good people, working on this case." he said, giving Grissom some more assurance, before giving him a quick nod, closing his car door and driving off.  
Sara, who had been leaning against a nearby car, listening to the men's conversation, was smiling to herself as the excitement she had was clearly showing through. As Grissom began the walk back to the car, she hurried up next to him and walked alongside him. "If anyone can do it," she said as she ran her hand up and down his arm, "you can." She said quietly. "Come find me."  
Upon hearing this, Grissom nearly jumped out of his skin as he quickly looked over his shoulder, and spun around an entire 360 degrees. Sara then stopped walking and watched as Grissom looked around the parking lot while making his way back to the car. "He heard me," she said outloud, almost as a question more than a statement, "he _heard _me," she repeated, much louder this time, and with more affirmation. Then as Grissom got into the car, she ran towards the car, full speed, adrenaline rushing, on the way, yelling, "He heard me!"  
Jumping in the car and grabbing a hold of his hand, she lifted it up to her lips and gave it a soft kiss as she set it back down.  
Grissom then gazed cautiously at his hand as a strange feeling overtook him. It felt as if he had just run his hand through a cobweb. _I must be more tired than I realized..._ he thought. He had been awake for way more than 24 hours.  
Driving off, he made his way towards his hotel room. He was no use to help Sara if he wasn't alert.  
Sara, on the other hand, was more awake than ever at the moment as she sat back in her seat and smiled to herself. _He's gonna find me,_ she kept repeating in her head, over and over again. _He's gonna find me..._

**NOTE FROM AUTHOR:**

Heyy everyone! I hope you're enjoying the story! & just so some of you know & in case any of you have noticed; in some of the previous chapters the cuss words are mis-spelled or with a number or period in them... EXPLANATION: the site I had originally posted this story on had a censor, so... yeah. But anyway! Please drop off a reveiw for me, even if it's just to let me know that you're reading! They mean so much to me & they get me pumped to write more! :)  
Thanks! -Shannon 3


	15. Chapter 15

Arriving at the hotel only minutes before, Grissom had gotten to his room and was sitting on the bed of the hotel room. He had his head in his hands, thinking about the events that had just happened in the course of a little over a day. And about how Sara--, _his _Sara, was missing. Missing. _How could this happen... again_, he thought. Everything was supposed to be fine after Natalie was put away. They were happy. They were going to get _married_. Married. He sadly smiled to himself. He actually hadn't planned on proposing that day. Sure he had thought of it, but when he saw her, and how beautiful she looked even in the silliest bee outfit even, he knew he needed her in his life. And he didn't want to wait one more moment. When she said yes, he couldn't stop smiling.

Then she left. He blamed himself mostly for her leaving. If only he wasn't so thick-headed and had paid more attention to her. The team had tried to ask about what happened. All he would say was that she was visiting her mother. A sort of "break", he told them. People wouldn't bring her up that much anymore anyway. He would always brush it off or change the subject and the team just learned to accept his silence of the matter.

The team.

He needed to call back to Vegas to check up on things. He almost forgot that he didn't have his cell phone with him. Catherine would be worried sick if he didn't call, he thought. And maybe they had more information back there than he did in his current situation. Picking up the phone of the small room, he dialed Catherine's number. He didn't even have to wait for the first ring to end when he quickly heard, "It's about time you called."

--

"It's about time you called." Catherine said as she sighed into the phone.

"Hey Catherine." Grissom said tiredly. There was a slight pause into the phone until Catherine asked the question that had been hanging in the air.

"Have they found her, yet?" she asked softly. Grissom inhaled deeply,

"No." he simply said. "What did Archie find?" Grissom asked, now in full investigator mode. He waited as he heard a shuffling of papers on the other end. Catherine cleared her voice and gave him the information she knew.  
"I talked to Archie, off the record," she emphasized, "and he was able to clear up the tape enough to understand it clearly. A copy of the message has already been sent to the lab in San Francisco." Taking everything Catherine had just told him in, he hesitated before asking his next question.

"What did the message say?"

There was now another pause, longer than the previous one.

"Look, Grissom..."

"Catherine," he said sternly, cutting her off. His patience was wearing thin. He took a moment to compose himself before speaking softer into the phone, "just tell me what she said." Grissom heard a few more papers shuffle around before she began reciting it.

" 'Gil. Gil, help. Help. Well. Hurt,' " Catherine paused for a few seconds before she resumed reciting the message, " 'Please, help. Gil. I need you,' " Grissom was on the verge of tears as he imagined Sara somewhere, cold, scared, alone, " 'I love you.' That's where the line goes dead." Catherine finished, speaking at almost a whisper. She cleared her throat and began speaking again. "Archie also said that there was heavy rain in the background. He also said that it sounded outdoors, so I hope that helps..." she said, trailing off. Grissom now had tears clouding his exhausted eyes. His heart was being torn in two. Blinking back the tears, he knew he couldn't lose himself over the phone. "Gil..." Catherine whispered to him.

"Yeah, thank you, Cath," he said, finally finding his voice, "so much."

"Don't worry, you'll find her." Catherine spoke, "and we're all here for you."

"Yeah," he said, as if he were trying to convince himself of that, "thanks again, Catherine."

"Bring home our girl." Catherine said, as the call was ended. Grissom then hung up the phone and layed down to sleep, _Only for a couple of hours,_ he told himself as he quickly dozed off; not even bothering to take off his shoes.

Sara then slowly emerged from her spot in the corner of the room where she had been settled, listening in on Grissom's coversation. A serious look spread was across Sara's face as she wondered how far the people working on her case had got. Hopefully they were close; if not, she would most likely die, and soon. That then led her mind to Jason, and Emma; the poor girl. Deciding to take the time she would have before he would wake to her advantage, she walked over to the bed where Grissom appeared to be out like a light. Leaning over, she ran her hand through his hair and placed a soft kiss on his forehead and on the top of his head. Whispering into his hair she gave him a simple promise, "I'll be back before you know it." Kissing his forehead again, she walked towards the door and found her way out and heading towards her next destination.


	16. Chapter 16

Even through the dark of the night, Sara found her way back to her mother's front yard. But instead of stopping and entering the house, she went just one more house down, to Jason's house. Entering the house, Sara felt cautious despite the fact she knew they could not see her nor were they aware of her presence at all. The house was dark, much like the houses surrounding, except for a single light in the kitchen. Slowly approaching, Sara recognized Emma's small frame, sitting in a kitchen chair, legs pulled up to her chest rocking back and forth. Feeling a sense of urgency rush through her, Sara hurried along side the girl, and brushed the hair out of her face to reveal an empty stare. Silent tears were running down her cheeks and stained the front of her blouse. Sara had seen people in this state out of many years as a CSI; a state of hopelessness, loss, and grief. And to see someone she knew in this state, was very hard to watch. Besides Jason, Emma was the only one who knew exactly what had happened to Sara, and even they didn't know the whole story. Especially the very important fact that Sara was not dead.

"It's all my fault." Emma whispered. Her voice with no emotion; no sadness, no... nothing. Then, something caught Sara's eye. Emma appeared to be holding something between her hands; a white-ish cloth of some sort. Then suddenly, Sara recognized the pattern, and looking down at her shirt, she saw the same design on both Emma's shred of cloth and Sara's shirt. That's because it was Sara's shirt. Sara then realized that she had just found the first piece of evidence that could help in her investigation. The sound of footsteps descending down the stairs caught Sara's attention and brought Emma out of her trance as she quickly shoved the shred of clothing into her pocket. Wiping her eyes and smoothing out her clothes, Emma put on a weak smile as she walked towards the stairs. Following Emma, Sara watched as she walked up to Jason and instead of anything being said, all Sara heard was the quick snapping sound of a slap in the face.

"You told me you'd be up in ten minutes. That was an hour ago." He growled at her. Sara then raced to Emma's side and stood hopelessly as she held the side of her face, crouched over, gasping for a breath. Sara wanted nothing more at that moment than to be able to cause some physical harm to Jason, for now actually witnessing this abuse first-hand.

"I'm so sorry." Emma stammered out, finally catching her balance and some of her composure. "I lost track of time--"

"I don't need any of your god-damn excuses." He said louder as he raised his hand yet again.

Emma quickly acted, "What I meant to say was, it won't happen again." she said as she inwardly breathed a breath of relief as he lowered his hand back down along side his body. She then put her hands in her pockets as she held the material of Sara's shirt, out of Jason's sight. "It's my fault." she sadly whispered. For a moment, Sara was unsure of which situation Emma was referring to, but either way, it made no difference.

Jason's posture seemed to soften as he slowly raised his hand and cupped Emma's face, "I'm sorry." he said, as he rubbed his thumb along side her face, and over the red hand print that was beginning to take shape.

"It's okay," she said to him, "I deserved it." Jason then smiled at her and kissed her as he then put a forceful arm over her shoulder and led her up the stairs and out of Sara's sight.

Sara stood there, speechless, now finally seeing the inner-workings of this dysfunctional, abusive relationship. How could Emma believe him? she asked herself. Seeing how easily Emma gave in left Sara flabbergasted. Sara pondered their behavior the entire trip back to Grissom's hotel room.

* * *

When she entered the hotel room, thankfully, Grissom was still asleep. He needs his rest, Sara thought. She then walked over to the bed and slipped under the covers beside him. Curled up close to him she gently traced small circles over his chest. She was caught completely off guard when he lifted his hand and laid it on top of hers, lacing their fingers together in a loving gesture. Sara gasped as she willed herself to be still and calm down. She then said the only thing she could think of to say.

"Gil?" she squeaked out. Watching his chest slowly move up and down in his sleep, her heart stopped when he slowly breathed out the response she had been hoping for.

"Sara." he mumbled. Eyes still closed and breathing still even, Sara was almost positive that he was still asleep.


	17. Chapter 17

"Gil." Sara choked out trying to hold back the tears, "Gil, I'm here." She said, holding on to his hand for dear life. "Please answer..." she trailed off. Grissom's body tensed up and his forehead creased as his hold on Sara's hand tightened.

"Don't leave;" he whispered sadly, "please, don't go." he pleaded in his sleep. This finally made Sara break. She choked out a small sob as she clutched his hand as if it were the only thing in the world. She couldn't believe he was really talking to her.

"Gil," she managed to say through her crying, "you need to find me. There's not much time left-" she tried to keep talking but her emotions were all rushing through the floodgates at once, making it impossible to control her crying. The crease in Grissom's forehead softened as he let go of her hand, causing Sara to gasp. But instead of retreating back to his slumber, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. Sara couldn't believe it. It was as if she was really there. He was holding her, just like he always would; for a moment Sara did not want it to end as she cried into his chest. But when she watched her tears sink into his shirt and disappear, it reminded her that there really were no tears. If anyone would see the scene that was happening right now, it would look like Grissom was clutching the air, and nothing more; not Sara.

Sara looked up at his face. Beautifully handsome, as she always would remember. His beard covering up and good section of his face, and his dark hair with the curls that Sara always loved to run her fingers through. Even his lips looked as soft as she remembered. She then raised her head and gently kissed his soft lips. She then laid her head back down and nearly had a heart attack at what happened next.

Grissom's body then stiffened as his eyes slowly opened, revealing the gorgeous blue orbs that Sara could find herself lost in. He quickly gasped as his eyes grew wide; he took his hand as started rubbing his eyes. Can he see me? Sara asked herself. When he pulled his hand back away from his face it almost looked like he were trying to focus his eyes on what he was seeing. He lifted his hand and flinched when he felt her. He then brushed a strand of hair out of her face and wiped away a stray tear sitting on her cheek.

"Sara?" he said unsurely in a raspy voice, "is that you?" Grissom's previous gesture was soon shown to be pointless as a new wave of tears burned their way down Sara's cheeks. Surely this could not be happening.

"Oh, Gil..." she cried softly. Grissom then shot up in the bed now sitting in an upright position and stared at her, as if he were looking at a ghost. "Gil?" she asked. She then sat up and met his gaze and put her hand on the side of his cheek. Grissom then got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, Sara followed him and watched as he turned on the faucet and splashed water into his face. He looked at his face in the mirror, "Snap out of it Gil," he quietly chastised himself, "you're seeing things now."

"No..." Sara whispered softly. "You saw me!" she told him. He then turned off the bathroom light and began the short walk back to the bed. "Gil. You saw me! I know it!" she said through the tears that were threatening to take over again. "You saw me, you held me, you talked to me!" she cried. She watched as he pulled up the covers to the bed and climbed back under it's warmth. "Please listen." she desperately whispered. "Please, please, please..." she repeated, growing hysterical now. Sara then climbed onto the bed again, opposite to Grissom, and tucked her legs under her as she grabbed his hand. "Gil! Damnit! Listen to me! I know you saw me!" she screamed at his once again, sleeping form. She rubbed his hand and kissed it repeatedly as she rocked back and forth on the bed, crying. "Open your eyes, Gil please, I love you." she said to him. When she waited a minute for any sort of response and she received none, she grew frustrated. "Gil! Hear me, please!" she said as her crying grew more frantic. "Just open your fucking eyes!" she screamed as she threw his hand down against the mattress with enough force that any other person would have woken, but not in this case.

Sara's tears did not subside as she got off of the bed and found her way to a nearby chair. Sitting and pulling her legs up to her chest, she waited for morning to come, as well as her crying to stop.

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Hey everyone! So sorry about having all the delays in between the chapters. I'm working on that... :) . But please comment if you're reading! The more comments I receive, the more pumped I get to write some more! Woot woot! So please just leave me some wonderful comments & you'll continue to get wonderful chapters. (Or at least I hope they're wonderful!) Thanks!

LOVE,  
Shannon


	18. Chapter 18

Sara did not move from her spot in the chair once the entire remainder of the night. She had been thinking the entire night and if one thing was for sure, she was going to _make _him see her again; no exceptions. He had looked at her, he had looked _directly _at her; she knew it. Then he washed it away with a little bit water and called himself crazy. But none of that was going to stop Sara. Especially now. Her experience the night before had exhilarated her.

When he began to stir, Sara knew she had a job to do. Before his legs were over the edge of the bed, Sara was standing in front of him, ready and waiting.

"It's about time you woke up." Sara said to him. The way she said it made it sound like she was beginning to start a conversation; as if he would respond. Today was another day; hopefully the day he would see her.

No more than ten minutes later, they were walking out of the hotel doors, Grissom leading the way.

"You know," Sara began, quickening her pace to walk alongside with him, "you're not crazy." She said and looked at his face for some sort of response. When she evoked nothing out of him she continued. "And I _know _that you heard me, and I know that you're going to hear me. _Again._"

Sara kept watching as he fumbled through his pockets for the keys to his rental. Skipping a few paces ahead of him, she turned around and started walking backwards, facing directly in front of him.

"So..." she started again, "I am going to talk to you so much that I am _hoping _to drive you crazy." She then stopped for a moment, and started walking alongside him again, thinking about her choice of words. "Not really though, you know. About driving you crazy I mean, since I already said you weren't and all. Because you're not..." She then laughed at her ramblings. Soon enough she was going to drive _herself _insane. Sara figured that if she kept talking and talking, then he would just _have _to hear her eventually. Maybe even see her...

Once they reached the car, Sara hurried to the passenger side and quickly hopped in, shutting the door just as Grissom took off and out of the parking lot. "Well then..." Sara said, turning in her seat. Facing Grissom's side of the car, she pulled her legs onto the seat and crossed them in front of her. Her tennis shoes rested halfway on his seat and halfway on hers. Any other usual day Grissom would have given her a slight smirk and told her to 'face forward and buckle up'. Sara tapped her fingers against her knees and studied his face. He hadn't seemed to notice her... yet.

"You better have someone watching Hank." she said, in all seriousness. "If he chews up the pillows on the couch again then there will be hell to pay!" she said, enjoying the little distraction as she thought about Hank for a little bit; well, thought out loud. If there was going to be any chance of him hearing her at all, then _she_would need to get used to doing some excessive talking. After a few minutes, she noticed that Grissom had given no notice to her at all. She let out a humorless laugh.

"You're going to need to hear me sometime, Gilbert!" Sara half-smiled then playfully hit him on the arm. Upon this happening, Grissom jumped up and hit his head on the roof of the car, almost swerving into the next lane and into a couple of cars. After a few moments of horns being honked profusely, and watching neighboring cars cussing to themselves, Grissom made it onto the shoulder, looking as pale as a ghost. When the car finally came to a stop, he let his head droop down and, not-so-softly, hit the top of the steering wheel.

Sara, feeling completely responsible for this almost-catastrophe began attempting to stammer out an apology.

"Gil," she breathed out, "I-I'm so sorry..." she inhaled deeply, "I shouldn't have... that was dumb of me... stupid really..." she rambled on until she realized it didn't matter, he still couldn't hear. But she hadn't realized that she had been staring at the floor until she heard a sound that made her heart ache.

Looking up at the man she loved, it nearly killed her when she saw him, head still against the steering wheel, letting out a sob. Only a few times in her whole life had she seen him cry. And knowing that she couldn't hold him and tell him it would be okay, made it that much worse. Sara then leaned up against his back as he stayed slumped over, and wrapped her arms around his torso. She then kissed his back softly willing herself not to begin crying as well.

After what seemed like hours, though it was, in reality, only a few minutes, Grissom sat up and ran his hands over his face, regaining his composure. Sara then sat up as well and sat watching him, with a somber look on her face.

"I swear to you," he said, just barely above a whisper, "I _will _find you." Sara curled her legs back up to her in the passenger seat and sighed.

"I know you will."

That was when all hell seemed to break loose for a moment, only to Sara, it was the equivalent to heaven...

**

* * *

**

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! I've recently discovered the wonder that is the Twilight saga! I've read the all the books & seen the movie 3 times already. I think I now have another obsession. : D But no worries! There will be another chapter coming up soon! Just stay tuned. :)**

**Oh yeahh, & just in case I haven't said it before: CSI and Grissom & Sara do not belong to me! (sadly) Only this story belongs to me. :)**

**LOVE,**

**Shannon3**


	19. Chapter 19

_"I know you will."_

_That was when all hell seemed to break loose for a moment, only to Sara, it was the equivalent to heaven..._

_

* * *

_

Grissom's head then quickly shot up and into Sara's direction; the speed of this action almost made it look painful as the way he jerked upward was not at all graceful...

"Sar-" Grissom's voice got caught in his throat which he quickly cleared, "Sara?" he looked skeptically, rubbing his eyes, trying to focus on the... image, before him. Sara held her breath. _Here we go,_ she thought.

"Gil..." Sara said cautiously, waiting for this to all set in and for his reaction to finally be revealed. His first reaction left Sara sitting confused.

He let out a laugh and began shaking his head quickly, back and forth. "I'm hallucinating again." he said under his breath as he let out another laugh; this time, another, colder one.

"No!" Sara yelled, a little too loud for Grissom's liking. He jumped up again, and turned his back towards his door. Now Sara had his attention. "I swear, you're not crazy, but please you need to listen to me before--"

"--Oh no, no, no." Grissom interrupted, shaking his head stubbornly, a smile on his face, "I'm not going to start talking to the hallucina--"

"--Last February _I_ was the one who broke your fish tank, not the dog." Sara countered. She then watched as his face turned from a stubborn smile to a look of disbelief. Realizing that she finally had him she continued.

"And when you went on your sabbatical I accidentally put dishwasher liquid in the washing machine which is why you said the carpet looked different in the den-- I had it replaced." she said as she rambled on. "Apparently the washing machine doesn't agree with Jet-Dry." she shrugged. "Oh, and I'm sorry, but I forgot to feed the tarantula... it didn't 'run away'." Sara then smiled at him sheepishly.

Grissom sat there stunned, taking this all in. After a few moments he met her gaze.

"Oh shit." he whispered. "You're really there... and I'm _not _crazy... and..."

"You're_ not _crazy." she told him again, making sure he had all the reassurement he needed to continue.

"S-so, if I'm not hallucinating, then," his voice cracked, "then are you..."

"Oh no! No! I'm not dead. Oh, Gil... it's so hard to explain." Sara said as her eyes watered over. "I'm not dead, but I am... dying." she said sadly.

Grissom sighed and tried to keep his emotions in check, "Tell me everything."

Sara smiled at him and reached for his hand and securing it with hers. Grissom's sad smile faded quickly when she did this.

"What's wrong?" Sara asked, unsure whether or not she should have done that.

"I-I can't feel you, your hand." he murmured.

Sara then, reluctantly, slowly lifted her hand out of his and into her lap. She stared at the floor ahead of her as tears silently made their way down her pale cheeks.

"Well, at least you can see and hear me." she said optimisticly as she faced him.

It made Grissom feel helpless as he witnessed her tears and knew he couldn't help. Little did he know, Sara had the same feeling of hopelessness. He then grabbed her hand, knowing that even though he couldn't feel her, she could feel him, and all he wanted was for her to know that he was there. He was going to help her; save her. Sara took the subtle silence as her cue.

"My flight got cancelled, and I decided to walk back to my mother's house. Maybe try to get a flight the next day or so." as she recalled this, her memory got a boost as if she were reliving the entire afternoon, step by step. "There was a car," she said, as she closed her eyes, beginning to recall the afternoon scene by scene. "It was raining... hard." she could clearly remember how it blinded her as she ran. "I tried to run, but it knocked me into some sort of ditch," she said, eyes still closed, focusing on the main details. _Someone had a bat, someone was hurting me._ "There was a bat, I fell in the dirt... I was hurt somehow... I can't remember what it was that I hurt..."

Grissom could clearly see her struggling to find some sort of answer in her memories. Her eyes closed tight, trying to remember everything.

"Then Jason," Sara's face turned into a grimace, "he was hurting me," _He hit higher than he planned and heard bones break._ Sara grabbed her midsection as the tears started falling down her cheeks again. "Emma was there, his girlfriend."

_"Help me." Sara begged..._

"She wouldn't help, she couldn't, she was too scared..."

"_I'm so sorry," Emma kept whispering..._

"Then, darkness." Sara said as she opened her eyes. Still staring straight ahead she continued, "Then next thing I knew I was on the cold wet ground. Everything hurt. It was a well," she said, facing Grissom, "I'm positive about that much" She met his gaze and quickly looked away, back towards the ground. "Then I called you." she finished with a whisper. Taking only mere seconds to review the night yet again, she knew what needed to be done next.

"Start the car." she demended as she ripped her hand out of his. Then she said what they both knew they needed to do. "We need to go to that well... _now."_

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**A/N: Remember! I LOOOOVE reviews! :D**


	20. Chapter 20

They drove in the general direction of the airport, Sara giving Grissom directions every now and then to where he needed to go.

"Last night, I wasn't dreaming was I?" Grissom softly asked as he made a left turn. Sara offered him a small half-smile.

"No," she answered, "that was really me."

"How come," Grissom said as he turned toward Sara, stopping the car at a red light, "I can see you?"

"Beats me," she said as she shrugged, "and you're the only one who can. My mom can't see me, Emma can't, not even people I've run into, literally." Sara looked him in the eye, "Only you." Grissom slowly nodded, though it was apparent that he barely understood what was going on. He focused back on the road as the light turned green.

"But, if you're not dead... then..." he didn't finish his sentence, he couldn't figure out how he would. If she wasn't dead, but wasn't, well, alive, then what the hell was going on? Sara thought carefully.

"I'm... I'm not too sure. I think it's some sort of limbo, between living and dying. If I would... well, come back to life, I guess you could say, I would just go back to my body." Sara had to stop for a moment as she really thought about what she was saying. It was finally sinking in that she wasn't alive. But then again... she wasn't dead; yet. "But if I were to die," Sara said quietly, trying not to look at Grissom, "then I would just, disappear."

Grissom's hands tightened around the steering wheel and his face showed looks from many different emotions. Anger, despair, sadness, but one thing Sara could spot was determination. If anyone would save her, he would.

Sara looked out the window, watching the scenery pass. Looking to her right she saw trees, lots and lots of trees. Sara quickly closed her eyes.

_She collapsed after a few steps, wet, cold, exhausted, and scared out of her mind. _

She quickly opened her eyes back up and realized where they were.

"Stop the car!" she yelled.

Grissom just about slammed on the breaks and slowly pulled over to the shoulder, parking; the car almost touching the guard rail. Sara barely waited for the car to stopped and jumped out. Grissom got out of the car and walked over to the other side, standing next to Sara as she looked pointedly towards the bottom of the ditch. He followed her gaze and gasped as he saw a trail of mud leading from halfway down the ravine and then deep into the woods.

_She got about fifty yards when the car clipped her, and she tripped off of the road and into a small, but steep ravine on it's side._

Without another word, Sara jumped over the guard rail, carefully maneuvering herself, and began making her way down to the bottom of the ditch. Grissom followed quickly behind and using both hands and feet and backed himself carefully down after her. After Sara finished her short journey to the bottom, she walked over to a place in the ground where the grass had been pushed to the side, perhaps done by Sara as she had tried to get to her feet... as she had tried to run away. She hadn't even noticed when Grissom started walking ahead of her, following the path of destruction within the grass. Sara walked slowly behind him looking at her surroundings, remembering how they looked now, compared to how they looked that night. After a couple of minutes of walking, Grissom stopped.

"Sara, where are we supposed to go?" he asked, looking out in front of him, at the unending forest. When he didn't hear a response he turned around and noticed Sara wasn't behind him. Actually, Sara was no where in sight. For a moment he feared the worst.

"_But if I were to die, then I would just, disappear._"

"Sara!" He yelled as he began to retrace his steps back to where he had last seen her. "Sara, where are you?!" he yelled out of panic. _She's not dead. She can _not _be dead. _He thought to himself over and over again.

Finally, after what felt like an hour, though it was only a few moments, he turned to his left and saw her, leaning against a tree. "Sara," he breathed out of relief as he quickly began walking towards her, "you scared me." He walked up alongside her and took a glance at her face.

Staring straight ahead of her, Sara's eyes were going back and forth across the forest ahead of her, as if she were looking in the distance for something.

"The old well." she gasped. Grissom barely heard her say it, yet soon was placing the pieces of the puzzle back together.

"_Help. Well. Hurt._"

Sara's message replayed in his head and before he knew it, he was following her through the trees, running as fast as his legs would carry him.

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**A/N: Hey everyone! SO sorry-- again. For not posting in a while. I've been busy (although even_ I_ hate that excuse) _and_ working on a new story, which I will post after I wrap this one up. Which will hopefully be before March. Don't lose faith in me! I'm still here and writing! & I PROMISE to get in another chapter by the end of the week. Now keep reading, reviewing, and ENJOY!  
-Shannon :)**


	21. Chapter 21

Grissom kept running as fast as he could, adrenaline coursing throughout every inch of his body. Sara must have been leading him to her... her, body. Grissom cringed internally at the use of the word, but kept reminding himself that she was okay. Well maybe she wasn't exactly "okay." But, she was _alive_, and that's all that was important to him.

But, as Sara was much more fit than he was, as well as her legs being much longer, he soon fell behind, though still following her every turn throughout the thick forest. He never let her out of his sight, and he wouldn't again until this nightmare was over. Catching quick glances of the surrounding foliage as he sped by, something felt... odd. Grissom _knew _he had been here before; the area looked vaguely familiar to him. Yet, he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

He kept on running, while dodging branches that were too low to the ground, and jumping over old, rotten, fallen trees. He even almost lost his footing a couple of times through the endless shrubbery, yet he kept on running, following Sara as best as he could, trying to stay as close to her as possible. Not even daring to have her escape his sight again; no, when he had just previously lost track of her, he had immediately expected the worst. What he had felt during those moments was pure agony. Although, he was soon stopped dead in his tracks.

Grissom realized that he had not been here _physically;_oh no, of course not. The situation got a little more unreal with every hour that passed. Making it harder for him to believe, though at the same time easier to understand as well. In these past couple days, Grissom had learned to accept things that might seem, even the slightest bit, out of the ordinary.

Such as, having your fiancee, who seems to be the either the unluckiest person alive considering all that has happened to her in her lifetime or is the luckiest person alive for still overcoming it all, become missing; but it doesn't end there, oh no. But also, having her undead "spirit" follow you around until you start seeing it, deeming yourself either crazy or you just can't believe what was going on; any normal person including themselves in that first category. And then following her "spirit" throughout some strange forest...

Yes, for Grissom, believing things that seem out of the ordinary was beginning to be an everyday occurrence.

Heck, at that moment, if a purple unicorn came flying down out of the sky with a monkey in a hat on it's back, telling Grissom to "jump on to save the world!" or something insane like that; he might actually consider listening to the talking primate. But then again... he might have to cross the line at seeing colorful mythical creatures...

The forsest he was in now, was not a place he had actually visited before, he had dreamt about it. Grissom was now successfully _in_ his nightmare; the one dream he had during that last night in Vegas. The one where he was chasing Sara through the forest. The one where she had fallen to her knees at the foot of the well.

The one where everything had faded to black when he finally reached her.

"Gil... hurry, please." Sara yelled back at him and his stationary form. He then began running again as he was lost in his thoughts.

Yes. The one dream where she had said those exact words...

The speed at which he was running at soon became even faster than before; desperate to reach her. Sara was a good ways ahead of him, and still running towards the direction of the well. She yelled something again, but with her head facing forward with the rest of her body, muffling the sound, he couldn't completely understand her words. He guessed it was something along the lines of "Hurry up." But then suddenly, she took a sharp left turn, blocking herself from Grissom's view for a fraction of a second, before he followed her lead. Making the turn as well, he stopped suddenly as he saw her slow herself down to a walk.

"Sara," he yelled towards her, as he picked up his legs again and tiredly strode towards her, "oh, Sara." He said again, much softer, and knowingly out of earshot of her.

Instead of responding to his call, Sara continued her brisk walk forward, making a bee-line towards something Grissom could not quite see. As he began covering most of the distance between them, Grissom soon slowed to a quick walk as well.

"It's right, here..." she finally said, as she took another few steps forward, directing her attention towards the ground; at the well, Grissom guessed. He kept walking towards her, covering more distance, as the large, moss-covered well came into his view also. Sara abruptly stopped at the foot of the well, and glanced over it's ledge and into it. Grissom sped his walk up a bit, his heart pounding inside of his chest.

At that moment he could hear nothing.

Not the sound of the birds flying overhead, singing their sweet tunes to one another.

Not the sound of the occasional airplane landing at the nearby airport.

Not even the sound of the moist ground below him, squishing and crunching below his feet with every step.

No, the only thing audible to him now, was the heavy beating of his heart.

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**A/N:** Hey everyone, I hope you're enjoying the story! I'll try to get another chapter in soon. Remember reviews? Yeah, I love them... alot. :D Haha, but serisouly you all, thank you SO MUCH for all your support of the story. Every review I get makes my day that much brighter. And also, thank all of you who've added me or this story to their favorites list, or who've added this to their story alert. Thank you ALL! I love it oh so much. :)

And on another note...  
OH MY GOD! So, "One to Go"...  
let's just say it had me bawling like a baby! Hysterics people! Absolute hysterics. :)  
But we have our happy ending and I couldn't have been more greatful.

LONG LIVE GSR! :D


	22. Chapter 22

Stopping a few feet behind her, Grissom was absolutely terrified at what he would see.

The thumping sound of his heart echoing through his head.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

_What if... no. None of that._ He scolded himself for fearing the worst.

Thump.

He walked step by step until he was along side Sara, though he had yet to lower his gaze.

Thump.

He held his breath as he dropped his head and glanced downward and over the edge of the well.

At first he wanted to scream.

To yell out in frustration.

Or even to fall to his knees and cry.

"No." Sara finally whispered.

The well was empty.

Grissom walked away briskly and leaned against a neighboring tree, closing his eyes tightly.

"This is wrong..." Sara said.

Grissom grunted out of frustration and angrily banged his fist against the tree.

"Of course it is!" he screamed. Closing his eyes again, he rubbed his temples with his fingers. "Every part of this is." he whispered.

He then turned his back to the tree, and slowly slid down the side. Sara had still yet to move herself from looking over and into the well.

"I thought you said that this was it." he grumbled as he stared out into space.

"It is-- was-- I don't know." she said as she sighed.

"I knew I was crazy." Grissom said as he got to his feet.

"You're not." Sara said, her voice barely above a whisper, as she finally looked at him. He simply looked at her and began walking.

" Ok. Fine. Then I'm still asleep." he said as he began walking in the direction from where they came.

"You're not." Sara said again, as her voice cracked.

But Grissom kept walking. He shook his head in disbelief. He knew he was either crazy, suffering from a terrible nightmare, or just had an extreme and unusually cruel imagination.

"Gil!"

He stopped as he heard Sara scream his name. He even almost kept on walking, but something in the back of his head told him not to.

"Gil, please!" he heard her yell again. Giving into his gut feeling, he turned around reluctantly and slowly made his way back to her.

As he approached her yet again, he made no eye contact and said nothing.

"Just look." she said to him as her long arm pointed deep into the well. He followed her instruction, yet didn't understand what she was trying to show him.

"I don't see anything." he said curtly.

"Please," she begged, "look harder."

Gazing back into the well he scanned the surface. He noted the shallow water level and rocks that occupied the floor of it. But he soon saw what Sara was talking about.

Although it was barely visible through the shallow, dirty water, he soon saw the glitter of something he knew all to well.

Sara's cell phone. Still opened from when she had dialed Grissom's number the night the 'accident' took place.

"Someone moved it-- I mean, me." she said, the shock very evident in her statement. Grissom was still stunned as he realized, yet again, that this was actually happening. Although it was hard to believe.

This was _real._

"We need to go talk to Emma." Sara suddenly said. She began a brisk walk back in the direction of where they had come. Grissom nearly stumbled as he quickly turned around and caught up alongside her, keeping up with her quick pace.

"Who's Emma?" he asked.

"Someone who might know where my body is." she said quietly, keeping a steady pace.

Grissom pondered this all the while back to the main road. Maybe the cop had been wrong. Maybe, Jason Hughes didn't do this. _Assumptions_, he humorlessly mused to himself. But what did this Emma have against Sara to force her to try and kill her. As they quickly managed their way back up the steep, cliff-like hill, they quickly climbed into the car.

"Head back towards my mother's house." she said as he started the car. He nodded and they were on there way. After a moment, Grissom decided to figure out what he could about what he was missing during this situation.

"So, is this, Emma... the person who did this..." he asked, trying to pick out the right words. Sara's eyes widened in shock at the question.

"Oh! No, no, no!" she answered, shaking her head quickly from side to side. "Emma is the... girlfriend, of the man." Sara cringed at the use of the word, boyfriend, in describing Emma's relationship with Jason. She would have much rather said 'victim' or 'captive'. "She was there that night." she said. Grissom nodded understandingly.

"And this man is, who?" he asked. Sara sighed and closed her eyes.

"Jason Hughes."

Grissom's hands tightened around the steering wheel as he drove.

They drove in silence as they made their way back towards Laura Sidle's house. Reaching their destination, they parked in the street outside the house.

"So, why are we back at your mother's house if we need to talk to this girl?" Grissom asked as he turned and faced her.

"She lives next door." Sara answered softly. But before he could respond she kept on talking. "But you must promise me something." she said. She was trying to make the tone of her voice stern, yet the raw emotion was still visible to Grissom.

"Anything." Grissom breathed out. Sara looked into his eyes when she spoke again.

"If Jason is there. You leave. Don't even try talking to him," Grissom tried to interrupt, but Sara was persistent. Raising her hand, she continued, "You'll know if he's there. Emma's only allowed to answer the door when she's home alone."

"Sara..."

"If he answer's the door, you say, 'Sorry, wrong house' and you walk away."

"Sara." he said again.

"Gil, please just listen!" she cried, resting her head in her hands, "Please." she begged him. "Do what I said." she mumbled.

Looking up to meet his gaze, she wished, once again, that she could touch him. Hug him, kiss him, let him know she was alright. But she had a job to do if she ever wanted to really do that again...

"Okay." he said softly.

"Promise me." she quietly demanded. He looked at her and sighed.

"I promise."

Sara inhaled deeply and nodded once.

"Let's do this." she said.

Emerging from the car she made her way towards Jason Hughes' house, Grissom right along side her.

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**A/N: Okay. So I keep saying how I don't want you guys to hate me... but I'm a terrible person for not posting another chapter in this long. So yes, for this time, I am giving you persissom to hate me...**

**BUT!**

**As long as you please, please, pleaseee don't take your frusteration (with dummy me) out on this story! ;)**

**Please comment with some feedback. (even if you just need to yell at me for being a stupid-head and making you all wait. I deserve that...)**

**Oh and one more thing! QUESTION: How can you tell how many hits your story has?! I see people saying that one of theirs stories has so-and-so hits but I don't know how to tell!  
Please help a girl out! :D**

**-Shannon**


	23. Chapter 23

Approaching the door, Grissom knocked three times, and waited.

"Remember, if Jason's there. We leave." Sara reminded him sternly. Grissom simply nodded.

As the door slowly opened, Sara breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, hello." Emma politely greeted, offering a small smile. "Can I help you?"

"Are you, Emma?"

"Yes," she gave him a confused look, "I'm sorry, but do I know you?"

"Just give her your name," Sara told Grissom, "trust me."

"I'm sorry, I'm being rude. My name is Gil Grissom."

Emma's eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped.

"Oh, um. Please, come in." she gestured for him to step in side as she took a few steps back.

"Thank you." Grissom smiled at the young woman. He followed her into the kitchen where she leaned back against the counter.

"Sara would always talk about you..." she smiled as she fiddled with her thumbs. Grissom couldn't help but give a small half-smile at that.

"So, I'm sure you're aware that she's, disappeared." he said as he studied her reaction.

Emma bit her lips as she looked down at the floor and at her shoes. She nodded slowly. She looked up at him, making eye contact, then quickly shifted her eyes and looked away.

"So," he began, "you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

She then shook her head quickly. "No." she finally managed to say.

"Gil," Sara said, from beside him, "say what I say, exactly." Grissom gave her a nod that was almost unnoticable. He then began repeating what Sara was dictating to him, word for word.

"Emma, tell me the truth." he said softly. Emma looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"I know what happened."

Emma looked at him in disbelief and stared with wide eyes.

"You didn't do anything wrong."

Her eyes glazed over and she chewed on her bottom lip.

"Emma," he said softly, as she stared past him, trying to fight back tears. As she looked at him, she tried blinking them away, but with no success. "She's not dead."

Emma looked at him skeptically through her glassy eyes.

"H-how..."

Grissom held up his hand as he shook his head.  
"I know it sounds crazy-- Insane, really," he said as he closed him eyes for a fleeting moment, "but you need to trust me." Emma allowed a tear to fall, then swiftly wiped it away. "For Sara."

"You've got to be kidding me." Emma whispered, to herself mostly.

"Where's Jason?" Emma looked up him, her mouth slightly agape.

"I... um..."

"I know her body's not there."

Emma looked at him with a mixture of shock and confusion.

"There's not enough time to explain," he informed her, "but you need to tell me where she is."

"I... I--"

"She's not in the well."

Emma's mouth dropped open and she quickly placed her hand over her mouth. She clutched her side with her other hand as a choked sob broke it's way through.  
"You... you couldn't have possibly known that..." she cried as she sunk to the floor against the kitchen counter. Grissom gazed sadly upon the small woman as he took a careful step towards her.  
"Emma, please, where is she?"

She took a quick minute to collect herself before she stood up and faced him.

"He left about a half an hour ago," she sighed, "you don't have much time."

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**A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it's such a short chapter. BUT: I'm sad to say that there are about anywhere between 3 to 5 chapters left... i'm not too sure yet. Haha, it depends on how much more I want it to last!!**

**But please review! It means so much to me; and even though I may not respond to everyone's reviews, I do read and LOVE LOVE LOOOOVE every one!**

**You all are amazing!**

**xoxo Shannon**


	24. Chapter 24

"Where did he go?" Grissom felt uneasy. Emma quickly retrieved a piece of scrap paper and a pen and began to scibble down something.

"He's headed west," she said as she continued writing, "to the coast."

"With... Sara?" he asked, with a lump in his throat. He didn't like where this was going...

"Yes, but you're going to need to hurry," she said as she finished writing and handed him the piece of paper, "he's probably halfway there by now." He looked at the paper and noticed the collection of directions she wrote out for him.

"Where exactly is he going?" Emma's eyes were empty as she answered him.

"To Devil's Slide, off of the Cabrillo highway." Noticing Grissom's look of slight confusion, she explained further. "He's taking her to the cliffs." his eyes grew wide and his mouth was left wide open.

"No..." Grissom whispered out loud.

This couldn't be happening. They were just _so _close. They had taken one step forward, and ten steps back. He turned slightly and watched Sara. Her expression was blank, her eyes stared straight out ahead of her, with her arms wrapped around her midsection, grabbing at her sides.

"It's a half hour drive, you need to hurry if you want to catch him." Emma informed him.

Grissom held the directions tightly in his hands and nodded slightly, still in deep thought. After a moment he met Emma's gaze. She offered him a sad smile.

"Sara always told me to believe." her voice was barely above a whisper, yet full of hope.

"Thank you."

And within seconds, he had run from the house and jumped into the car, Sara already sitting in the passenger's seat. Grissom sped away quickly as they then sat back and began the fight against time. After about 15 minutes of silence, Sara finally spoke.

"I'm sorry."

Grissom looked at her incredulously, disbelief written all across his face.

"What are you talking about?" he gasped, "You haven't done _anything_ wrong."

She shook her head stubbornly, and pursed her lips together.

"I've done _everything_ wrong. If I hadn't fought with Jason that one day--"

"No!" Grissom yelled angrily. "This is _not_your fault Sara!" he kept his grip on the steering wheel tight as he tried to keep his temper under control. He took a deep breath before saying anything else. "You didn't ask for any of this." his voice was noticeably softer.

Silence engulfed them once more as they became lost in their thoughts. Five more minutes ticked by before Sara spoke again.

"Gil," she inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, "If... I don't... survive this..."  
"Sara." Grissom's voice was full of warning.

"Please!" she cried, upset and frustrated, "Please, just... listen to what I need to say." When he didn't respond, she took that as a cue.

"Gil, I love you so much." she took another deep breath," I always have, and I'm so sorry for leaving you last fall. I will never forgive myself for that."

"You did what you had to do." Grissom said without emotion. Sara shook her head.

"I should have thought about you, too." she looked at him, "I'm sorry."

"Sara..." But she continued as if she hadn't hurt him.

"If I don't make it out of this, just know that much. That I love you more than anything."

"You'll make it Sara." he said sternly. "Trust me." he looked her in the eyes.  
"Always." she breathed.

The road they were driving on soon began to snake it's way along the coastline, bringing the pacific ocean out into a spectacular view. As they drove around one bend of the highway, Grissom's jaw clenched as he allowed his gaze to drift to the right and peer straight down the rocky cliff and into the crashing waves of dark blue. Heart aching, he pushed the car to drive just a little faster; already going much faster than the allowed speed limit. With the vision of the cliffs fresh in his mind, the terrifying reality tore at his emotions again. Sara was the only thing that mattered anymore. All he wanted at the moment was to have Sara safe; and he would do _anything_ to make that happen.

"Slow down!" Sara suddenly yelled. Grissom quickly eased the car down slower as he tried to see the cause of her sudden demand. At the end of the stretch of road the two now drove on, was a dark blue pick-up truck, parked on the side of the road. The car was parked along side a large, grass-covered hill, a few lone trees stood at the top of the large cliff.

"That's Jason's car."

Within seconds, Grissom had pulled the car directly behind the truck and parked. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed 911. As it rang, he quickly reached into the back seat and retrieved his handgun from his bag; causing Sara to gasp beside him.

"My name is Gil Grissom, and I'm on scene of a kidnapping. I'm going to need cops, and an ambulance," he said sternly to the woman on the receiving end, "and quickly."

Without hanging up, Grissom set the phone down beside the driver's seat and got out of the car, ignoring the operator's voice calling for a response to her questions. He knew that they would quickly trace the call and send the emergency personnel. Now outside of the car, Grissom held his gun tightly and started off toward Jason's car.

Cautiously approaching, he kept the gun pointed toward the car, and approached the driver's side. As soon as he discovered it empty, he looked towards the green hill which led to the top of a set of cliffs. A set of old stairs let the way to the summit, where it met an old war bunker.

"Be safe." Sara whispered from behind him.

Grissom nodded and ran forward, towards the stairs, Sara right behind him.

**A/N: Hey everyone! Please review. I love it so much! :D**

**And in case you didn't know, all the places I've described in this past chapter are real. I've posted pictures on my main page of Devil's Slide and the hill I described leading up to the bunker; you can see a car parked in the picture with a man standing there.**

**I hope that helps you to put the chapter into more perspective!**

**-Shannon**


	25. Chapter 25

**I'm so sorry it's taken so long to update, so I won't waste your time with an excuse & I won't beg for your mercy. Much. Regardless, here you go.**

**Feel free to hate me for my tardiness.**

* * *

Grissom quickly, though carefully, made his way up the old rickety stairs. His gun facing downward, he kept his eyes and ears open and alert as he ran. He refused to let his mind wander and think about the worst case scenarios that he could possibly encounter. No, he wouldn't dare. Finally reaching the top of the grassy-hilled cliff, he slowly made his way around the concrete bunker, gun ready.

Holding his breath, he turned around the last corner, gun out ahead...

"I'd put that down if I were you."

Grissom's blood ran cold.

After all this time, he was finally face to face with this horrible man. Jason Hughes. He held a hand gun of his own, the barrel firmly pressed up against Grissom's forehead. Grissom felt his heart stop.

Sara gasped from behind him, "No!" she sobbed.

"Don't make me repeat myself." Jason spoke sternly. Slowly, Grissom lowered his gun. "Drop it." He ordered. Grissom immediately released his grip on his gun, and now held his breath. The sound of metal hitting the ground caused him to wince. He was powerless.

"Good. Now what do you want?"

Grissom stopped thinking and listened, Sara's cries had now ceased to exist. Quickly yet subtly, he looked around. Sara was nowhere to be seen.

"I said. What. Do. You. Want?" he seethed, leaning in towards Grissom.

"Where's Sara."

Jason laughed in his face, and took a few steps back. "She's dead."

"No she's not," Grissom replied calmly, "now where is she?" Jason laughed again. Grissom knew he had to get through to him somehow. "I know she's not dead. So if you stop now, and show me where she is, we can work something out. You didn't kill her."

"What are you? Stupid, or something?" Jason glared at Grissom.

"Please," he begged quietly, "just tell me where she is."

Jason said nothing, but walked over to where Grissom was, gun still raised. As he approached him, he kicked Grissom's gun back down the hill. Walking behind Grissom, he put the gun against his back.

"Walk." he commanded.

Grissom could only obey as Jason directed him closer to the edge, and around another corner of the bunker. He gasped at the sight.

Sara was leaning over something, or someone, and soon enough, Grissom knew.

It was her own body.

As Jason forced him forward, Grissom's legs dragged him towards her.

"Sara." he gasped.

It was nearly impossible for her to still be alive. Her mangled body laid bloody and caked in layers of mud. Her face was still; almost peaceful.

"My God." he heard Sara sob. She ran her hand along her body. Along the breaks and bruises, softly crying.

"Happy now?" Jason spat.

Grissom fell to his knees before Sara's body. He knew she needed help, but he was too afraid to touch her. She looked so broken, so... fragile.

"Gil!" Sara shrieked. Grissom immediately looked at Sara's... spirit; and began to panic.

She was disappearing. With each passing second, her form grew more and more transparent.

"No no no no no!" Sara yelled, staring at herself in horror.

Grissom barely heard the click of the gun besides his head. Soon enough, the barrel was pressed firmly against his temple, again.

"Say goodbye."

It's now or never, he thought.

Grissom turned as quickly as possible, tackling Jason to the ground the moment the trigger was pulled. The bullet missed Grissom's head, but he worked to refrain from groaning in pain as he felt the metal tear through his shoulder.

"No!" Sara screamed helplessly.

The two men rolled in the dirt, each fighting, and failing, to gain the upper hand. Both of their hands held tightly to the gun as they struggled for control of the situation.

Receiving a sharp knee into the stomach, Grissom felt the air rush out of his lungs. He clutched at his midsection as a reflex, yet immediately regretted the decision. Jason now had control of the gun.

Gasping for air on the ground, his shoulder screaming in pain, Grissom lifted his head, meeting the deadly stare of Jason.

He held the gun out towards him, pointing the gun straight into Grissom's face. Grissom looked around desperately, spotting Sara's body. But not her spirit. She's gone. He thought, I was too late.

Facing Jason again, he took a deep breath, knowing that he had lost.

In the still costal air, a shot rang out.


End file.
